Undertale: The Machine
by Birdofterror
Summary: Within the heart of the "Infinity", Gaster seeks to manipulate Determination in a strange and indirect way through Frisk. Awakening in worlds they remember nothing about, demonized by people they don't remember for crimes they don't recall, Frisk will be beaten down by everyone around them and will never understand why, yet Gaster schemes behind the veil.
1. The Hands

**Credit Note:** _The picture used for this cover is credited to NonLee of Deviantart. Credit of Undertale, the characters within, and the world are credited to Toby Fox._

* * *

Undertale: The Machine  
Chapter 1  
The Hands

"Heart rate… minimal…"  
 **Beep  
** "Less than five beats per minute…"  
… **Beep  
** "Humans. So strong, so devious, yet so brittle, just like the rest of us…"

A young child lies upon a metal table as cold as the dead of night, though the discomfort is the last thing on their mind as it slips from their every attempt to regain it. The human's eyes glazed, looking off in random directions as their lungs struggle to fill with breath, only to be shot full of more chemicals, causing their chest to convulse in pain and fail to cough due to lack of strength. They are dying… and have been for hours, kept only barely alive by a strange man obscured in the artificial light of a medical chamber.

"Your kind have wrought terrible destruction, not just upon us… but upon yourselves, and your own world… hubris… infidelity… zealotry… DETERMINATION…!" The man hisses, grinding his bony fingers into the metal bed. He sighs and lets go, turning back to the monitors.  
 **Beep**  
"Still alive. STILL. ALIVE. What does it take to end you, Frisk?"  
 **Beep**  
"What will it take to cause you to just… give up?"  
 **Beep**  
"Your death will only reverse these actions back to their source… I've seen it time and time again…"  
 **Beep  
** "Your Determination will send you back to before I capture you, again and again… but not this time, Frisk…"  
 **Beep  
** "This time I will have you… you will give me your soul, whether you like it or not." He says flatly, turning back to the child on the medical bed. The man smiles deviously, but his eyes remain burning with a strange hate, his lab coat spilling to the dusty floor below.

"I finally have what it takes to bend you… without breaking you. I thought too small before, you're far more useful to me alive…"  
 **Beep  
** "I know the secret of your Determination. Your SAVE POINTS…"  
 **Beep  
** "And I know that you want a happy ending, more than anything…"  
 **Beep**  
"So I've devised this." The possibly insane man explains, putting his hollow hand on top of a nearby machine.

"This… machine… will delve into the darkest corners of your heart, and alter your Determination. Real memories, memories not your own. A fake world filled with real people… real people wronged by your fake memories… and within it all… the potential for Infinity. INFINITY…" The man repeats, his mouth salivating, and his pupils shuttering, looking at Frisk's heart rate falling from five beats to three. It's almost time.

"One more try… even if I fail, I can just observe the timestream… and try again… Frisk… do not fail me… open your heart to the Infinity!"  
 **Beep… Beep… … … …  
** Frisk's heart stops and his life signs cease. The machine behind the man begins to blare off warning as magical electricity shoots in all directions. From within Frisk's chest, a blood red heart rises and pulses. The world around them changes.

It's time.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** _Coming back from a relatively long hiatus from my last serious story involving Undertale (Not related to the Virtue's Paragon) I give you a story that's undergone many transformations before I've finally decided to settle with this one, and start pitching it forward for you kind people to read. For posterity, please note that **This story does not have anything to do with Unseen Influence.** This is in its own universe, and will not mingle with any other AU's, including my own._

* * *

 _Rotation 1_

 _I don't know how, or why, but I've been returned to the realm of the conscious. I can see, hear, breathe, speak. But people cannot see me, my words go unanswered, my lungs refuse to fill with air, and my tongue flutters in vain. I don't know what benevolent, or perhaps malevolent force has returned me from death, but so long as it doesn't bind my neck in a collar of subservience, then I will take this as my chance to have my revenge. I am not real, yet I am. My hands move, and the wind blows. I cannot pick up a tool, but I can manipulate the world around it._

 _This is going to be very difficult, but my goal is simple. Return to life. There is a human here, I haven't seen one since Chara. I was so caught up in my work that the entire world blew right past me until my accident. I will not make that mistake again. I will create something, anything, no matter how many hundreds or thousands of years it takes, and I will return myself to life._

 _Perhaps it was I who returned myself in the first place? A self creation loop... but would it really be me who revived me? No, it would be this human child, Frisk. Something about breaking the barrier freed me. Not my body, but my aether, my infinity. I had always wondered what happened to a being if it died. Now I know. But if humans can return from the dead, then so can I. I will not die here. I am screaming this message out across all possible timelines, I won't die like this._

 _Someone, something. Satan, God. Answer me._


	2. Charity from the Ignorant

Undertale: The Machine  
Chapter 2  
Charity from the Ignorant

"Ugh… where… am I?" A young human asks, shaking their head and grabbing it.  
"Ow… headache… shh…" They wince through a tear inducing migraine. They open their eyes briefly to learn of their surroundings.

Yellow flowers. Purple walls. Their eyes go hazy and their mind fizzles like static. They blink slowly… they are not fully awake yet. They stand up, their knees going wobbly and falling to the flowers, spreading pollen. A small bit of it gets in their nose. It tickles.

 **"ACHOO!"** The child sneezes, surprisingly catching the attention of someone nearby.

"H-Hello?" A small timid voice lets out from around the corner. The human child stands up again and weakly wobbles toward the voice, realizing that there's a door deeper into this area. Within a small lit clearing they can see what looks distinctly inhuman. What is it?

"Who are you…? Where am I…?" The human asks, covering their head to fight back the pain, but still making eye contact with the creature beyond them. They have squinty eyes, what look like wilting antennae as if they were an insect, and seem to have similarly bug-like wings, yet this creature is much larger than a bug, albeit smaller than frisk, about half in size.

"Oh… h-hello. I am Whimsun… these… are the old ruins of Home."  
"Home…? Ruins…? Whimsun…" The human beyond them repeats and begins to think, before shaking their head again.  
"Who are you? I don't think I've seen a monster like you before…" The now identified Whimsun asks.  
"M-Monster? Agh… n-no, I'm a human. My name is… Frisk. I think…" The human identifying themselves as Frisk responds. The Whimsun cocks their head.

"Ah, you're a human? That's… that's great! A-Asgore has been looking for a human for years now!"  
"Asgore? Wh-Why does he need a human?" Frisk asks, still nursing a headache.  
"Oh dear… are you in pain? What's wrong?"  
"I don't know… I'll… get over it, I hope…"  
"Here, take this." The timid Whimsun says, waddling over to Frisk and presenting what looks like a candy piece.

"Huh?"  
"Eat it. Monster food has healing properties." The Whimsun insists, backing away slightly. Frisk nods and pops the candy in their mouth. It tastes alright, but to their amazement, Whimsun was right, and Frisk instantly starts feeling better. They take a huge sigh of relief.

"Thank you Whimsun, that helped a lot." Frisk says with a smile.  
"I'm happy to help. That was my last one."  
"Oh… I… I'm sorry. I didn't mean-"  
"No, it's quite alright. I've held onto it for days. N-No one else needed it." Whimsun admits bashfully, looking every which way.

"Well, thank you. To be honest, I don't know how I got here. You said this was the ruins of Home? Those names seem kind of familiar, but something seems off…" Frisk says, putting a finger to their chin. Whimsun takes this time to look Frisk up and down.

Obviously a child, but standing rather strongly with an odd aura of experience around them, Frisk wears matching light-blue clothing with a purple striped shirt and shorts. Their hair is brown, and their eyes are similarly winced like Whimsun's. Frisk removes their hand from their chin and looks down at Whimsun, who stops staring.

"Well, I can't get any answers from here. I'm going to move forward. Do you… want to accompany me?" Frisk asks. Whimsun begins to look around nervously.

"I-I mean I couldn't… I mean… what if someone saw?"  
"There are others down here?"  
"W-Well, not a lot, but yes! B-But I'm assuming you will want to leave."  
"Huh? Leave? Leave where?"  
"Well, you want to go home, don't you?" The Whimsun asks. The strangely obvious question never occurred to Frisk. What DOES Frisk want? They begin to think again with closed, hard-thinking eyes. They try to remember anything, but they just can't. Even their name, "Frisk" seems fleeting and forgetful. Frisk shakes their head and looks back down at Whimsun.

"I… don't know. I would imagine if I spend enough time down here, I might remember what I was doing."  
"Oh, then, if you don't mind, can I tag along with you?"  
"You want to follow me?"  
"Well, yeah… I think it's finally time to leave the Ruins. It's been years since Toriel vanished, so I think now is a great time! We can get through this way!" Whimsun suggests, fluttering forward and leaving this dark room. Frisk looks around one final time.

They haven't… BEEN here before… have they? Frisk, with a heart and mind full of doubt, marches on regardless.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** _Unlike my other stories averaging 1.5-2.5K words, I think I'm going to make this story average only 0.8-1K and making it longer for more intense parts, updating every day if possible to give a forward momentum to current readers. Something to look forward to when they log on to check. I hope you all enjoy._

* * *

 _Rotation 2_

 _I've done it. At least, I think it was me. I woke up next to a strange machine, it's as if I never fell into the Core. This is so strange, so surreal. Everything is real, but not. People wave at me, and say my name. Gaster... Gaster..._

 _Wasn't I dead? And what was that message? Was that me from before? Did I die? I have memories... memories from falling into my Core, but I also have memories of never being that close, as if there are two realities in my memory. One where I fell, and one where I didn't. But that's not possible, I cannot have memories of what did not occur, after all, that's not how memory works. But they are so vivid. This machine... did I make it? I don't remember it. I cannot even describe it aesthetically, and to be honest, I don't know why I'm making this message. I just feel like I should, calling out to someone._

 _This world is so strange, it's like that human... Frisk was it? It's like Frisk reset the world. Humans... can they do such a thing? So flippantly? The barrier has still fallen, he has taken in with the queen of monsters, Toriel. The rest of my people live in peace on the surface. If nothing else, I will at least observe Frisk. Maybe another Gaster will receive this message? But I'm not sure._

 _This world is strange though, subtle things are wrong. My papers are not exactly where I left them. It's such an innocuous detail, but I cannot drop it. This world... it doesn't seem real._


	3. Endless Echoes

Undertale: The Machine  
Chapter 3  
Endless Echoes

Frisk and Whimsun walk forward through the Ruins. Maybe Frisk still feels sick, but their chest hurts from some of the visions they see. A sort of sad nostalgia that twists Frisk's heart. Mixed with the headaches, Frisk has a hard time keeping a straight face. Whimsun notices this as well.

"Should we take a break?" They suggest, pointing to a pile of leaves on the ground. Even something as unassuming and innocuous as this pile fills Frisk's mind with a sad dread, but regardless, they nod and sit down next to Whimsun, taking a few breaths.

"So… Frisk. Where are you from?" Whimsun asks unexpectedly. Frisk looks down at them.  
"I'm from… uh…" Frisk says, drawing a blank. What was once a passive groaning pain turns to a rather shocked expression.  
"F-Frisk? What's wrong?"  
"Why… can't I remember where I… I…" Frisk starts to stammer, darting their eyes around and around.  
"Th-That's okay! Maybe you just bumped your head hard!"  
"Well it does hurt like heck…" Frisk confirms, rubbing their head again.

They sit around for a few moments before Frisk nods.  
"We can go now. Sorry for worrying you."  
"It's no worry. Come on, I can guide you through here."  
"Huh? Guide? Why?"  
"Well there are a bunch of… traps lying around."  
"TRAPS?! Why?"  
"To… um… catch a human for Asgore?" The Whimsun shyly admits, looking over to Frisk. Frisk furrows their brow and kneels to eye level with the small monster.

"Why does Asgore want me again?"  
"S-So that we can ascend to the surface?"  
"And Asgore… needs **ME** … a kid… for that?"  
"Y-Yes!"  
"That doesn't make much sense… then again, I don't really understand anything else either." Frisk rises back to their standing position and follows Whimsun up a set of stairs and into a new section of the ruins. They step on buttons and flutter up to flip a switch.

"I think maybe Toriel would be doing this for you, if she was here."  
"You said that name before. Who is, or was, Toriel?" Frisk asks, that name tickling their memory.  
"Well… a long time ago, she was the queen of all monsters, alongside Asgore, our king." Whimsun explains, leading Frisk down a linear path and flipping switching. They both step on a dry leaf or two along the way.

"She called herself the caretaker of the Ruins, but she disappeared one day, along with a lot of my friends."  
"Disappeared? Where to?"  
"Don't know. It was… nine? N-No, ten years ago. A lot of my friends suddenly disappeared. No one knew what happened. Since then, the door to the ruins has remained closed, but I think a human like you can open it." The Whimsun explains before reaching another room and then walking right past it, but Frisk notices a cotton dummy and says hi to it. Whimsun walks back into the room with a puzzled expression.

"Frisk? What are you doing?"  
"Huh? Oh, I just…" Frisk stammers, putting their waving hand down and breaking eye contact with the dummy.  
"I just… felt like I should say hi to it, is all."  
"Okay. Well, come on." Frisk nods and follows Whimsun again. They pass into a narrow hallway and Frisk steps on a small pile of dust. Frisk shrugs and bangs their foot against the wall to get it off, before continuing.

"Toriel wasn't very nice to us other monsters down here. I heard that another human fell down ten years ago, and she helped them out… but then she disappeared. Maybe she entered into the rest of the Underground?" Whimsun thinks to themselves as Frisk nervously follows them, avoiding spikes as they do so. Then they enter a long hallway. Frisk can't even see the end of it.

"So why are you monsters still in here?" Frisk asks.  
"Well, we sort of… LIVE here, but the old city has thinned in number, and most monsters have vanished. I was just a baby when it happened, but I grew up here. I-I'm sort of used to the silence. But… seeing you, Asgore has probably already met with that other human, and we can ascend to the surface! W-We were just too nervous to explore Toriel's house. Who knows, sh-she might still be there…" Whimsun shivers as they reach the end of the hallway and into the next room.

They spend a few moments of silence simply navigating the puzzles ahead of them. Notably, Whimsun flies over one of the cracks in the ground and Frisk falls into it. Whimsun embarrassedly helps them out.

Before long, they come to a crossroad, and Whimsun places a finger on their chin.  
"Th-This way!" They say, moving forward, only to be caught in a spider web! Frisk cocks their head and effortlessly pulls them out of the web.

"Th-Thanks… this way I mean!" Whimsun says, trying to save face. Frisk merely smiles. Before long, the room begins to spin, and they find themselves before a dried old tree with dead leaves at its base.

"H-Here we are…" Whimsun says.  
"This is Toriel's home." Frisk says, their eyes squinting. Whimsun looks up at them.  
"Nice guess, Frisk! This is her home."  
"No, I mean… I KNOW this place." Frisk says, a strange emotion in their eyes.  
"Frisk?"  
"There's no mistaking it!" Frisk yells, looking left and right and starting to sweat, before covering their head again.  
"I'VE… BEEN… HERE! WHY CAN'T I REMEMBER?!"

* * *

 _Rotation 3_

 _It all stopped again. I blunk and the world passed me by. I am beyond words, and the explanation is more simple than I ever gave it credit. Frisk, he did this, I am certain of it. That's the only way these messages make sense. Two of them now, both on this strange machine after I woke up from what I thought was death. Apparently I am talking to myself, sending messages to myself, each and every version of myself so far has awoken from death, and each of them has fixated on a small human named Frisk, and if these testimonies are to be trusted, then my standing here sending this message is the ultimate truth of their claims._

 _Frisk is resetting the world, again, and again. I do not know why. Why save the world, only to plunge it back into darkness to save it again, and again? Does he feel excited saving the world and feeling like a hero? Or perhaps is there something else he is after? Bah, it's not worth thinking about. He is merely a child._

 _I have been gone for a long time. Death or no, this world is worth observing. I observed Frisk last time, but the world was reset... I think. I do not have memories from the resets, though I am conscious of every time he does so. If my past self went after the human, then I will go somewhere else. There is another royal scientist in this world. Her name is Alphys. Maybe she understands how and why a simple human child is capable of molesting the purity of the timeline._

 _There is a strange anger building in my heart. I've never personally known this human, yet I feel like I hate them. Maybe my heart remembers something my brain does not? I will research what I can before this world is reset again. I have no guarantee that Frisk will reset the world, but I know he will. I don't know how, I just do._


	4. Sour Home

Undertale: The Machine  
Chapter 4  
Sour Home

Without so much as consulting Whimsun, Frisk busts into the house, kicking debris and leaves out of the way to do so.

"TORIEL? TORIEEEEL!" Frisk yells out, frantically running about the house, noticing that it's completely dark, small flecks of dust dancing in the air. The fireplace, once burning with an effervescent fire has now gone black, the coals within having been cold for a very long time. Frisk continues to scamper around the house, tripping on overturned chairs and the occasional toy.

"F-Frisk?" Whimsun asks, timidly following behind them. Frisk jolts their head back as if they've completely forgotten Whimsun exists.  
"H-Huh? Oh…" Frisk says, their eyes starting to settle back into one of sanity. Frisk covers his eyes with his hand.

"Frisk… have you… r-really been here before?" Whimsun asks. Frisk doesn't respond, merely only nodding. They know in their head that it's probably not true, but the feeling in their chest, the absolute agony of losing a friend, and the despair of having almost FORGOTTEN them telling no lies. There is no doubt in Frisk's heart-

Even if there is nothing but doubt in his mind.

"Then… m-maybe…" Whimsun begins to think out loud before stopping. Frisk uncovers his face and looks over to them.  
"Maybe what?"  
"M-Maybe you… are the human that fell down here ten years ago?" Whimsun suggests.

The though never occurred to Frisk before now. These memories, the forgotten as well as the remembered… it makes sense. But a thought occurs to them.

"But… that doesn't really make sense. I mean, look at me."  
"Huh? O-Oh… you mean…" Whimsun understands. Frisk is still a child. Having fallen down ten years ago as a child, only to remain one for all this time does seem unlikely.

"Nevermind…" Whimsun says.  
"I doubt you could do this anyway." Whimsun continues, looking around the house. They notice heaps of dust piled in corners. Yet that comment… the doubt that they could do that, it also pains Frisk's heart.

What is it in his chest that knows what his memory does not? They wander around the house for a bit. Frisk finds himself in the kitchen, and something catches their eye. An empty aluminum pie tin, crumpled and bent upon the floor. The fridge is also destroyed and flipped, this place was ransacked a long time ago. Frisk walks out and into the hallway, half of it caved in, but one room remains accessible with a busted door. They squeeze in to see…

"My room…" Frisk says to themselves. Whimsun follows and looks up at them.  
"Are you sure you've been here…?"  
"Positive…"  
"But… how?" Whimsun blubbers, closing their eyes and thinking. Frisk notices a broken plate on the floor and frowns. There is not a single doubt in his mind or his heart, he's been here… this was his home, even for the briefest of times.

"We should go. I have questions, and monsters within the rest of the Underground might have the answers." Frisk says with a certain Determination. Whimsun nods and follows his lead as they reach a basement, which is even darker than the rest of the ruined home. Whimsun flutters behind Frisk as he marches forward faster and faster.

 **My… child… be good… won't you…?**

Frisk's brow furrows and they begin to scowl, their walk turning into a jog, before turning into a run!

"F-Frisk! Slow down!"

 **At my most… vulnerable moment…**

Frisk's mouth contorts into an angry snarl before they find themselves running at full speed beyond a large room, one with memories of a battle rife with heartache.

 **You really are… no different… ha… ha… ha…**

"STOOOOOOP!" Frisk yells at himself, covering his ears, stopping mid-run and causing Whimsun to bonk into his back! He opens his eyes and turns around to see them dizzy on the floor. Frisk frowns and picks them up.

"I'm… sorry…"  
"It's o-okay… just… give me some warning next time… okay?" Whimsun forgives, beginning to fly again. Frisk turns around to see a patch of earth bathed in sunlight from the surface above.

 **She tried so hard to protect you humans, but in the end, she couldn't even save herself! What an idiot!**

"Flowey…" Frisk growls. Whimsun and Frisk march to the door just beyond, and begin to crack it open, the cold Snowdin air blowing in.

* * *

 _Rotation 4_

 _Determination. That's what my past self wrote down in between these notes. The very nature of this machine of mine is strange, it can somehow send tactile inputs even from between dimensions. Three messages now, three resets, but my past self has the right idea. We have limited time from when we wake up to do as much as we can. We're stuck in a loop, the world around us, rotating around and around like a wheel, and Frisk won't stop spinning it._

 _Determination, though, it's interesting. It answers all the question I ever had about humans. Not just humans, but their history, humanity as a whole. How humans won the first war without losing even a single member of their tribe so long ago. The reason we were forced underground was because of this insipid Determination. The royal scientist who took over when I vanished spent her entire career researching and trying to replicate Determination, but she failed at every turn. At least, for the results she sought out that is._

 _But these notes, the ones Gaster 3 sent me... yes, I think it's appropriate to think of us all as separate entities. Gaster 3 sent me every note Alphys had on Determination. Unfortunately, he never had the time to research them thoroughly. I will do so now. I will dedicate this entire rotation to cracking Alphys' code on the human heart. Apparently Frisk resets the world every year or so, so I have about twelve months. I don't know why Frisk has trapped us all in this hell of his making, putting us back in the darkness only to show us the light every year. I doubt anyone but myself is aware of this, and even then, without this machine I would be just as ignorant as them._

 _Did I build it? I don't remember building it. But I must have. I wake up next to it whenever the barrier falls. I have no recollection of anything before it. I don't feel anything like what Gaster 1 explained though. My body is quite physical, and the actions I take affect the world around me. I cannot and will not deny the effectivity of this machine, but I have doubts about the legitimacy of my actions. Though so long as I breathe, I will learn, I am a scientist, it is my job, before, during, and even after death. I will crack the human code, and through it, Frisk._


	5. Hoarse Winds

Undertale: The Machine  
Chapter 5  
Hoarse Winds

Frisk and Whimsun slowly open the door from the Ruins, made of solid stone, and built in such a way that once whoever walks past it, it will slam shut behind them to be locked to the outside. Frisk steps through, but Whimsun stays put. Frisk looks back.

"Huh? Are you coming?"  
"I don't know… Frisk… I've lived my whole life in the Ruins… a-and now with your amnesia, and this whole Toriel thing… I've suddenly gotten second thoughts…" Whimsun admits, refusing to lock eyes with Frisk who merely frowns.

"I get it. A fear of the unknown. We both feel it."  
"R-Really?"  
"Yeah, but my fear… it's being turned into anger. Something, or someone, did this to me. Ten years… Toriel… I need to find out the truth." Frisk claims with Determination. Whimsun smiles shyly and nods.

"O-Okay!" Whimsun says with a spurt of newfound confidence. They both spring outside of the door, only to have it slam ominously behind them, and Whimsun instantly turns on a dime and goes back to a scaredy-fly. Frisk merely laughs and picks Whimsun up in his arms before marching forward.

The trees are barren, and the air is icy cold yet devoid completely of wind. They cross bridges and pass by burnt ruins. Signs are split down the middle, and the trail is hardly accessible through the snow. Whimsun flies over the rough terrain, but Frisk grunts and slips across collapsed paths. Later on atop cliff bluffs, a bridge has broken, and Frisk makes the quite frankly insane decision to jump to make the gap, but his jump goes even the slightest bit wide and he begins to fall! Whimsun without a second thought flitters to him and beats their wings as fast as they can to give Frisk even an additional inch of slack, just enough to grab onto one of the collapsed bridge boards, and Frisk climbs up it like a ladder. He reaches the top and collapses with shallow breaths.

"Th-Thanks, Whimsun…" Frisk says sincerely, eyes closed and chest rising and falling rapidly with breaths. Whimsun merely nods and waits for Frisk to regain his composure. Whimsun looks around, noticing a lot of the snow has melted and frozen into patterns of shoeprints. What looks like an ice-cream stand lies destroyed, buried under dirt and ice. It makes them feel uncomfortable, they haven't seen a single monster since they left the Ruins.

Whimsun knows that a lot of monsters in the Ruins probably left to Snowdin after that human fell ten years ago. But what… what if they didn't? Whimsun recalls what a monster looks like when they die, gray dust. Is this… even snow? Whimsun coughs just thinking about it. Frisk rises back to his feet and they both continue onward again.

They walk across another bridge, and pass by strange rock formations. They get the strangest feeling that they're being watched. Frisk is so certain that he's felt this way before. They come across an ice lake, but it's not slippery, as apparently the surface has been cracked and shattered from years of movement, and is now a crackly floor. A pathway north shows what appears to be nothing but an overlook to the forest below. Frisk frowns and continues forward.

They reach a foggy area where a bridge is so long they can't see the end of it. Whimsun gulps.  
"Frisk… are you sure you want to go past that? I mean, I can fly… but…" Whimsun implies, Frisk merely looks around before remembering something.

"Where… are any save points?" He says to himself.  
"Save points?" Whimsun asks. Frisk looks about to answer, before realizing they don't fully remember what that even is either. Simply another instinct, a memory from their heart, not their mind.

"It's… nothing. We should go forward…"  
"A-Alright… be careful, Frisk." Whimsun groans as Frisk moves forward. He takes slow, calculated steps across every wooden board. Below him is an ice river, hundreds of feet down. Frisk holds onto both ropes on each side of himself while making gradual progress across the misty bridge. Frisk looks up for a second and notices something.

There's someone on the edge of the bridge! He can make out a silhouette!

"H-Hello?" Frisk yells out-  
"Are you a monster? Can you tell me if this bridge is safe?"

 **"Nah, kid. It's not safe."  
** "It isn't?"  
 **"No, because I'm here."** The person says, taking out what looks like a cannon, or large gun, impossible to see through the fog!  
"FRISK W-WATCH OUT!" Whimsun yells as a laser blasts Frisk back onto the bridge and burning away the rope suspenders! The impact of the blast knocks Frisk out and the bridge begins to snap and give way!

"FRIIIIIISK!" Whimsun yells out as Frisk falls into the icy water below. Whimsun looks over at the other side of the bridge to notice that the person is gone, but there's no time for that! Whimsun flies down as fast as they can to help Frisk!

* * *

 _Rotation 5_

 _This is fascinating. I won't write down the fact that I woke up next to a machine, since everyone else has, but I will write that upon this machine is a tertiary file that fully explains Determination. After I read the journals from myself, I went right in. Gaster 4 spent an entire year doing nothing but dissecting every bit of research from Royal Scientist Alphys, and through his extensive research, I now have his abridged notes in what I can only assume is **negative** time. Negative time meaning that it took him a year to research it, but now I have it a year earlier, meaning all of his work was done in less than a second... I have read them all and retained them in less than a day, condensing such a complex concept in less than a day... it must have taken Alphys many years, but I suppose this very strange situation of mine has given us a permanent status of anxiety._

 _Frisk reset the world again. I can only assume this is the fifth time, or maybe even more? How many times has he reset before even Gaster 1 returned to life? Regardless, all humans control their destinies though Determination, and through them, a small process known as "Saving" and "Loading". The concept reminds me of working on computers, saving and loading files... and deleting them. Is that what Frisk is doing? Loading the file of the world? Over and over... but why? Why does he continue to alter the world every time he receives a happy ending?_

 _I cannot afford to waste even a single day of this year however. I have the research notes for Determination, which Gaster 4 put extensive effort into obtaining for me. The previous notes, about Alphys being the royal scientist, are also still present within this machine, it's a slight comfort that I wont be forced to send the same note back my future self, so I can dedicate this rotation to researching something else. This time, I think I'll take the notes and try to find some sort of pragmatic use for them. I now know how Frisk is doing what he does, though now I need to learn of a way, even hypothetically, of how to stop it._

 _But I must be careful. Frisk is apparently a timeless entity, while I am not. If he grows suspicious of me, he can just murder me before I ever have a chance to react. I need to handle this perfectly. We apparently have an infinite amount of time to come to some sort of plan. We must be patient. I will dissect this... **Determination...** and with it, I will find a plan to stop this._


	6. Chilled Spine

Undertale: The Machine  
Chapter 6  
Chilled Spine

Whimsun flits anxiously from wave to wave within the icy river, not seeing Frisk anywhere!

"FRISK! FRIIIIISK! SAY SOMETHING! WHERE ARE YOU?!" Whimsun yells at the top of their lungs, going farther and farther down-river, still finding nothing! Whimsun begins to hyperventilate before seeing something! Frisk's body, crumpled aside the river a bit down! Whimsun flits over there before realizing Frisk isn't alone… it's that guy again. Still obscured in a light fog, Whimsun can still not make any details out.

"Y-You, get away from him!" Whimsun timidly roars, raising their own sticklike arms, trying to look tough. The person in the fog merely putting his hands in his pockets and laughing.

 **"Whimsun… do you even know what this thing is?"**  
"Huh? H-How do you know my name…?"  
 **"This… THING… is the reason I'm like this now. The only reason I even plucked him out of the water instead of leaving him to freeze to death was because your actions were confusing me. Why now, of all times, has this human chosen to befriend a monster like you?"** The strange man asks Whimsun. Whimsun looks down to see the knocked out Frisk shivering, their wet clothes in the cold air probably going to kill them soon…

"Please, just let Frisk go! He didn't do anything!"  
 **"DIDN'T DO ANYTHING?!"** The man yells, blowing the fog away to show who he truly is! A skeleton person with a blue coat and an orange scarf! His bony fingers sharpened to claws and a burning flame within one of his sockets!

 **"THIS 'THING' KILLED MY BROTHER, AND COUNTLESS OTHERS! I knew I should have stopped him when I had the chance, but I thought he would just turn time back, it seemed so inevitable, but ten years… TEN YEARS I'VE LIVED IN THIS HELL BECAUSE OF MY HESITATION! Not anymore. Leave, Whimsun. I will kill this human, and the queen will claim his soul… then we will finally be free."** The man states with indignation. Frisk's skin growing pale and icy, they won't live for much longer. Whimsun shakes their head.

"I-I can't do that! He's my friend! He helped me work up the courage to leave the Ruins! We're going to go see Asgore!"

 **"Asgore? Ha… hahaha…"** The bone man giggles, putting his claws back in his blue pockets as his orange scarf blows in the icy wind.

 **"Tell ya what, Whimsun. If you can keep him alive, you can take him to the castle all you want. You'll get all the answers you want, and MORE. But from down here, it will be hard to make it to the castle. I blew out all the paths to Snowdin town, so that another massacre will never take place. You'll have to find your own way. I would say 'Good Luck', but in reality, I want you to fail. See ya."** The skeleton man admits before disappearing in a gust of snow. Whimsun, without wasting a beat, flies up to the dying Frisk and musters up all of their monster magic!

Magical moths come from nothing and swarm Frisk's body, landing on and coating his entire skin with an electric energy. They all vibrate their wings and the ice breaks from his clothing.

There is no guarantee Frisk is going to survive…

As the magical moths do what they can, Whimsun merely sits down on a nearby block of wood from the forest. Frisk's teeth chatter in the cold death of this, the new Snowdin. Whimsin looks up to see the mountain they fell from. Several hundred feet up, there's no way Frisk could ever climb this mountain… Whimsun instead looks for alternate paths to see a small clearing in the forest nearby, almost a deliberate cut walkway.

Whimsun looks back at Frisk, he's not improving fast enough as his shivers are given way to struggled breathing… Frisk is going to die! Whimsun summons moths until they go limp, absolutely smothering Frisk as much as they can, before getting another idea. Whimsun sees two dry sticks hanging from a dead tree and snaps them off. Whimsun begins to rub them together as fast as they can, but it's not fast enough. Whimsun is too weak, and the sticks too heavy for them. They get an idea and summon one last moth and they strike it against the stick, the magical electricity arcing and lighting the stick on fire! Whimsun gathers as many sticks as they can and throw it into a small pile next to Frisk.

However, as soon as Whimsun believes themselves in the clear, their fatigue catches back up to them and they collapse next to the fire.

The magical moths fizzle away one by one, leaving Whimsun and Frisk to the mercy of the small fire near them…

* * *

 _Rotation 6_

 _I've received the notes from both Gaster 4 and Gaster 5. I won't waste time talking about things that have already been talked about, like Alphys, or the concept of Determination._

 _Frisk has reset the world again. This much isn't really up for debate anymore, given what the other notes have said, this will continue to happen again and again. Our people reach the surface, have a happy life for about a year, then it's all taken away by Frisk, who gives it back, and then I wake up here, next to this machine. Gaster 5 sent me a list of possible hypothetical scenarios. They are intriguing, but they all require something that he dedicated the LAST day to finding. The last day is worth mentioning, it was September 16th, 2016. When I look at the calendar now, and when you all look at your own calendars, you will see that it is September 16th, 2015. Exactly one year. EXACTLY... one year. Every time. Why?_

 _Anyway... Gaster 5 was researching something he called a "save point." Apparently only Frisk can see it, so researching such a strange concept would be impossible, right? But Gaster 5 managed to watch Frisk at the end of the year. He apparently went back to Toriel's house, and accessed his "save point" in the first floor living-room. Gaster 5 noted Frisk talking to himself. "Not here either." Frisk is looking something, and accesses an invisible... THING, called a save point, which acts like a dimensional anchor. Then the notes are gone, as if Gaster was suddenly ripped from the world and could no longer send information._

 _Frisk reset the timeline at that exact moment. Does resetting the timeline require the save point? I will have to observe Frisk this entire timeline. I thought Gaster 2 did, but I don't think he understood what to look for. This time I will follow closer, and try not to be found out. I will listen to Frisk talking to himself, and look at him when he interacts with nothing. Or what we perceive as nothing. Gaster 5 had an idea of, if we could somehow touch a save point, that we could alter it. First I need to figure out how to find it._


	7. Unknown Isolation

Undertale: The Machine  
Chapter 7  
Unknown Isolation

Whimsun groans…

They wriggle, slowly and surely, their eyes crack open, breaking the long sleep from their being. They notice that the fire is still going. Unless they're mistaken… it's even stronger than before? But that's not possible. Whimsun was knocked out and couldn't stoke the fire… unless… Whimsun sits up and looks around, noticing Frisk isn't anywhere to be found.

Is he… dead…? Did he explode into dust like everyone else, blending in perfectly with the snow around them…? Whimsun merely moans to themselves, trying to warm up by the fire. However, they hear a twig snap behind them and they shoot back!

"YAAAAAA!" Whimsun screeches, diving as far away from the voice as they can, leaping through the fire, causing it to flit from their movement. Whimsun pokes their head up a bit to see Frisk carrying a bundle of sticks.

"Good morning." Is all he says. Whimsun notices something strange about Frisk. He's not wearing a shirt! Why in Asgore's name would he not be wearing a shirt, it's FREEZING out here!

"Do you like my shirt? You were shivering so much when I woke up that I thought you were gonna freeze!" Frisk says. Whimsun looks down to notice that they're wearing Frisk's light blue striped shirt.

"You… did this for me? But… I was supposed to be the one to save you…"  
"We've saved each other multiple times now. I guess that's just what friends do." Frisk confirms, throwing the branches onto the fire, the satisfying crackle breaking out. Frisk sits down by it and Whimsun takes his shirt off. They throw it back to him, and he puts it back on.

"Thanks." Whimsun says sadly.  
"No problem. So… you pulled me from the river and started a fire, huh? You're a strong little monster."  
"N-No… I… I didn't pull you from the river."  
"Huh? Then who did?"  
"That guy… that guy who blew up the bridge and knocked you down here."  
"Huh? Why?" Frisk asks. Whimsun diverts their eyes.

 **Because he found it strange that a murderer like you would befriend me:** sounds like a very weird thing to say… Whimsun instead says nothing.

"Well, whatever the case… we're down here now, and I don't think even with your help I can get back up."  
"Yeah, but I spotted a small path over there."  
"I noticed that too. I was waiting for you to wake up. It's been hours. Are you good to walk?"  
"I was good enough to jump through fire at a moment's notice!" Whimsun jokes. Frisk laughs and nods.  
"That you were." Frisk stands up and warms his hands up one last time by the fire. He stomps it out and looks towards the forest behind them.

"I guess we should go." He says. Whimsun nods and hops onto his shoulder. They both proceed into the cold lower Snowdin forest, quickly the illumination of the cave rocks above acting as a false sun fades, and the darkness sets in. Be it from fear or the cold, Whimsun chatters besides Frisk's ear. Frisk takes careful steps over small gorges, pushing trees over to make bridges, or using Whimsun's help to see below them to see if it's safe to walk.

After a few hours of bumping around in the darkness, they can finally make out the light of the cavern ahead. They rush forward as fast as they can and soon they can see without squinting again! They sigh in relief before noticing a small lake in front of them. A frozen waterfall above seems to be feeding it. Luckily a large avalanche seems to have occurred here, and a pattern of rocks and ice formations seem to be suitable for climbing this cliff face. Whimsun urges Frisk to be careful as he begins to jump, walk, sidle, and climb up the rough but pliable surface. They begin to reach the top before slipping!

"AH!" Frisk yells before being caught by someone strong!  
"Oh, thank you!" Frisk says, looking up to see someone in a full suit of armor. The person pulls him up and Frisk dusts himself off of snow.  
"No problem, be more careful… next… time…" The person says, looking Frisk up and down. Frisk looks over and cocks their head.  
"Is something wrong-"  
"HUMAN!" The armored person yells out, drawing a solid metal sword!  
"ACK!" Frisk yells as they slash down! Frisk and Whimsun run deep into a nearby cavern faster than they can chase and they hide behind a small waterfall! Frisk gulps as the guard looks nearby, but gives up.

"I gotta tell the queen about this… another human's fallen, how did it get this far?!" They mutter, running out of the blue cavern.

"Geeze, what was that all about?" Frisk mumbles.  
"I don't know, but with that guard and that one guy, I think it's safe to say that you're not safe down here…"  
"But why? I haven't done anything! Where is Toriel…? Dang it, we have to meet Asgore and straighten this out." Frisk says, popping out of the waterfall and looking deeper into the blue cavern.

"Y-Yeah…" Whimsun says to themselves, fluttering behind Frisk. Together they tread cautiously into this new area.

* * *

 _Rotation 7_

 _September 16th, 2015. He wasn't wrong. There's no use fighting it anymore, we're stuck in an infinite loop. I've received all of the notes from the other Gasters. Determination, save points, and now... everything Frisk did for the whole year._

 _He was looking for the prince. The dead prince, Asriel. He died during my time as Royal Scientist, it was a tragedy. Why is Frisk looking for him? Well, I'll abridge the hundreds of paragraphs of notes from Gaster 6 into this small message, then delete those notes from Rotation 6. Apparently the first thing Frisk does after ascending to the surface is going to live with Toriel, then he... "Saves his game" in her house, before leaving to live his new life. As expected, he acts incredibly aloof, as if he's seen everything before. He goes, wins a lottery, and uses the money to charter a private jet to every country on the planet, and explores it all, crying Asriel's name out. How many times has he done this now? At least six times now, but probably even more. Does he even remember doing this?_

 _Once the year is almost over, he returns home to Toriel, and they have some sort of one year anniversary where the monsters ascended to the surface. The king and the queen, who are apparently no longer married, gather to Frisk, and they gather around the fireplace, eating butterscotch pie, talking about how their family is complete again. But something always ruins the mood. Frisk starts to cry and runs away. At the end of the day when everyone is asleep, he returns to his save point. "Not here either..." That what he apparently said. Gaster 5 and Gaster 6 both recalled this action._

 _This is starting to frighten me. Does Frisk have any memory of doing any of this? Has he trapped himself, and all of us, in a one year time loop, where he attempts to find Asriel even without memory of his past actions? But that's not possible, he knows how to win the lottery, he MUST remember everything, then why does he perform all of the same actions over and over again. Is it insanity?_

 _There's something else, though. Isn't Asriel still alive? Reading Alphys' notes, she talked about a sentient flower. I don't know why, but I have a hunch. I'm going to dedicate this year looking for a flower..._


	8. Feeling Blue

Undertale: The Machine  
Chapter 8  
Feeling Blue

Frisk and Whimsun make steady progress through the blue caverns. The humidity and heat inside is much more agreeable than the snowy land outside. However, neither Frisk nor Whimsun has spoken a word since leaving their hiding spot. Frisk steps foot inside a shallow pool that rushes downward to feed a nearby waterfall, and they look over towards another higher waterfall. He instinctively walks into the center of it, and to Whimsun's surprise, they're in an entirely new room.

"Woah, how did you know this place was here?"  
"I didn't. My heart did. I'm done asking questions about it." Frisk responds with, strangely coldly. He looks around expecting to find something, but nothing is here. Cursing their own emotional memory, they leave the waterfall and shake their head of the wetness before continuing on.

"Frisk… I think we should turn back."  
"What do you mean?"  
"You heard that guy… they're gonna call the queen, get more people to fight us… if we keep going, we're gonna get attacked…" Whimsun says, tapping their tiny fingers together bashfully. Frisk looks over at them with a strange aggression in their eyes.

"They're after me. Not you. You should go."  
"H-Huh? But I-"  
"If you're with me, you'll be in danger." Frisk says, looking forward and marching. Leaving Whimsun floating above a nearby pool of water.

"But… Frisk…"

* * *

Frisk continues on alone, the pain in their chest ignorable by the scrapes and bruises caused by crawling over solid jagged rocks. The paths within Waterfall are flooded and collapsed with stone. Much like the Ruins, there is nary a monster to be found here. Some paths are familiar and sadly nostalgic, and others are completely new and laden with fearful mystery. Both fill Frisk with dread. This world…

What happened ten years ago…?

 **You're sneaking off to see her too, right?**

A memory of a monster child runs through Frisk's mind as they instinctively look behind themselves. But there's nothing there. They leave a small batch of seaweed, all the while expecting someone to come out, yet no one did. Frisk keeps their eyes forward, heart welling with a now annoying sadness.

"What good have you ever done me?" He asks his chest.

Frisk arrives at a portion of the cavern which seems to rain down on them. He looks up and puts his palm out, catching a few drops. Beyond seems to be the Monster King's castle… or is it Queen now? Is it Toriel? Could it possibly be? Frisk shakes his head and continues down the rainy hall.

 **Undyne could come and beat up all the teachers! … Nah, she's too cool to hurt anyone innocent.**

Memories of the monster child still ring in Frisk's ears. They reach the end and climb up a rockface. It hurts his hands and knees. He vaguely remembers an easier way, but it doesn't matter. All of the prophesies along the walls of this cavern are scratched out, as if by anger. Frisk walks along a labyrinth of hanging planks before arriving at a dead end. Downwards is a garbage dump, but it's almost a hundred feet! There's no way he could survive the fall… Frisk backs up to find another way down.

However, immediately upon turning around, he meets with someone. He can't see details, but the shape of the person is IMMEDIATELY familiar!

"You!" Frisk yells out, going on the defensive! It's that man that shot him off the bridge in Snowdin!  
 **"Me."** He simply states, shrugging. Frisk can make out a certain malice even from over here. This guy is strong, and this guy is angry. What does he want?!

"Why did you pull me out of the river?"  
 **"What, Whimsun didn't tell ya? I'm not surprised. The reason probably wouldn't have sounded very genuine coming from their tiny mouth."  
** "What do you mean?"  
 **"You're a murderer, kiddo. It's as obvious as that red glow."**  
"M-Murderer?! But, I don't… I don't remember doing any of that!"  
 **"That? So you've already put the pieces together. "That" being ten years ago."**  
"I… I…"  
 **"Nah, it's alright. I get it. Whimsun told me everything. You don't seem to remember the things that you definitely DID do. So you helped one monster out, huh? What about the others who were unlucky enough to stand in your way?"** The man hisses with judgement. Frisk backs up, their foot scraping the edge of the wooden platform, below is a large fall.

"I… I… I don't remember! Who are you?"  
 **"I'm the man that's gonna give you a bad time one day. But for now, let me help you out."** The man says before presenting a similar shape that Frisk recognizes.

"Oh, please not tha-" He tries to say as he's blown off of the platform and falls down towards the dump!

"AHHHHHHHH!"

 ***Thunk**

* * *

 _Rotation 8_

 _I got Gaster 7's notes. I'm not entirely sure what to make out of them. He explored the entirety of the Underground, and found what he was looking for. Most of the monsters have ascended to the surface, though a few of them choose to live down there, a few such as Froggits or Whimsuns. They seem content to live in the darkness. He found what he was looking for. A sentient flower named Flowey. He seemed to look at Gaster 7 with confusion, but nevertheless gave him the information he wanted._

 _Flowey was once Asriel, brought to life by Alphys' experiments. Flowey attacked Frisk with six human souls, then the souls of all of his friends, and it was apparently him who shattered the barrier. Asriel was looking for his friend, Chara, and thought he found them through a little boy named Frisk. Frisk turned out to be an even better friend however, but Flowey couldn't return to his family, not like this._

 _BUT THIS DOESN'T MAKE SENSE!_

 _Frisk was there! Frisk knows that Asriel is Flowey! I know it, Flowey knows it! Yet Frisk never returns to the underground! Ever! Surely he knows Flowey is there, yet instead he travels to every nation on the human planet, looking for Asriel. Isn't Flowey Asriel? I'm having a difficult time figuring out what I should dedicate my year to. I can't watch Frisk, or look for Asriel, I apparently found them already._

 _I'm going to infiltrate Toriel's house, see if I can at least **detect** this save point thing that the other Gasters talked about._


	9. Real Memories of a Fake World

Undertale: The Machine  
Chapter 9  
Real Memories of a Fake World

 **I've fallen down, yet again.  
This is not the first time.  
No, I've felt this. Not just the pain of unconsciousness…  
But the dismal abyss that is death.  
Frisk… can you hear me?  
It's your best friend…  
Your partner…  
We can't let him get away with this…  
… Wait…  
You do not remember…  
…Yet.  
This journey, at its end you will be forced to make a choice…  
To kill… or to be killed…  
A choice to be made no matter how hard you fight…  
Neither matters much… he holds our fate in his hands…  
Frisk… your heart may be hurting…  
Trust me, I know…  
But you have to keep going.  
I will pull you back if things get tough…  
I always have, and always will.  
Despite everything, this is a job only you can do…  
Now…  
Wake up.**

* * *

Frisk gasps, waking up in a small patch of soggy yellow flowers. He coughs up a small bit of water and looks around. He's at the dump. What was that dream? Well… it wasn't that much like a dream. More like a dark void where he heard a voice. It was simultaneously soothing, and disturbing… they knew Frisk? The concept of forgetting old friends usually makes Frisk sad, but this one… this one he's certain he never knew. Then why did they speak like they knew him? Whatever the case, the possibility exists that it was just a dream, and nothing more. Frisk stands up and pats their wet clothes down before walking forward.

The dump seems especially clogged, so much trash that the waterfall downward is completely backed up. I guess ten years of little use will do that. Frisk tries really… **really** hard to not think about what he heard a few moments ago.

He "is" the murderer. But why can't he remember? What's the game here, why would he do this ten years ago to come back as a child again, and remember nothing? WHAT'S THE POINT?

 **"WHAT'S THE POINT?!"** Frisk yells, punching a small stack of garbage so hard that it explodes from the base and it goes flying in every portion of the room.

Frisk looks terrified at what they just did. He's… capable of this kind of damage? Frisk's eyes flicker like a static sheet, and their every thought turns to nothing. It's so impossible, but it makes so much sense. Someone with this much power wouldn't have any trouble destroying all of Monsterkind.

But he didn't. Whimsun was alive, right? And there's a queen, and a town, and royal guards. He obviously didn't kill everyone, so what's the point? Frisk begins to get a headache and a heartache again and begins to just move forward anyway. He remembers Whimsun… he hopes they're okay. They probably made it back to Snowdin by now, back to a town of monsters. It's better this way.

Frisk makes it to a small collection of houses, but they're all abandoned. One of which seems overrun with snails. A small cavern with trinkets is also abandoned, spider webs present. Frisk merely continues down the sodden halls, noticing that the prophesies are also scribbled out here, as if someone took a hot blade to it. Frisk closes his eyes and navigates dark rooms by muscle memory that they don't understand. Though they don't have a single solid memory, he knows that he's been here before.

Before long, he arrives at a large bridge. He crosses it with no problem, but parts of it seem to fill him with more nostalgia than usual. Passing it, he arrives at a large cave system with hot air blowing through it.

 **Alphys told me humans were Determined, now I know what she meant! But Monsters are Determined too!**

Frisk shakes his head and moves on. Hands in his pockets, he makes this lonesome trip without a single shred of Determination left. He simply moves along the one path to the one ending he has lost faith in… why even try? Before long he arrives at yet another bridge, but this one blasts him with hot air. Below him is a deep gorge filled with magma. He moves forward, but another memory fills his head-

This one is far more vivid than the others…

* * *

"D-Damn it, human…! Kill me or let me go... ngah... what are you doing?" Undyne, the hero of monsters asks, the human ahead of her holding her by the throat. The human says absolutely nothing, their face blank, then picking up a sharp rock from nearby and stabbing it into Undyne's one remaining eye!

"AHHHHHHH!" She screams in agony, at that point the human kicks her in the chest as she falls into the chasm of lava, disappearing from sight behind the mirages of the intense heat of the lava.

"With this… Frisk shall know true suffering." The human says out loud to no one in particular. In a state of lucid memory, Frisk can remember that it's them, it's FRISK that said and did those things!

"Are you watching?" The memory of Frisk says to himself as he remembers, this entire event filling Frisk's chest with absolute terror!

"Good. Never forget what you did. They won't."

* * *

 **"NO!"** Frisk gasps and falls to his knees! He looks around, noticing a familiar cliff before scrambling over to it. He looks down with air quickly leaving his lungs.

That's the cliff he kicked Undyne down… ten years ago… but why? Why did he do that-

And why did he talk to himself?! None of this makes sense!

* * *

 _Rotation 9_

 _I did it. He did it. I'm not sure how I, he, we did it, but they did. Gaster 8 sent notes of what a save point looks like, we can't see it directly, but the energy readings show a four pointed star. This must be what a save point is. Frisk apparently only visits it twice for the whole year, the day after the Barrier falls, and the day he resets the world._

 _I can memorize all of these notes in a few days, then do further research on that "save point". Along with these notes left by Alphys on the nature of Determination, I may be able to find a way to alter one, if not both of those things. Our world is fake, that's how I managed to invent the concept of magical electricity, and the Core. If our world is fake, and but data, then surely it can be edited? Is that not what Determination is? A force that alters the nature of the world from the inside?_

 _I know where the save point is, I know when to access it, and I know when Frisk and Toriel will be out of that house, thanks to Gaster 8's notes. I'm going to crack this code this time._


	10. Moth to a Flame

Undertale: The Machine  
Chapter 10  
Moth to a Flame

Frisk clasps his skull and shakes his head! Nothing makes sense! These memories, that man's actions and words, these feelings, his memories, his LACK of memories! What's the point of even moving forward at this point? There's just probably a king or a queen at the end who will just want him dead anyway, there's no point to any of this, only suffering!

"Frisk…?" A timid, familiar voice lets out behind him. Frisk looks over with frustration and sadness over his entire being.

"Wh… Whimsun? What are you doing here?"  
"Frisk… I… I did go back like you said, I went back to Snowdin town, and there I met a lot of people…" Whimsun says, landing near Frisk upon the orange burning stones of Hotland.

"Frisk… there are a lot of monsters out there, a lot of them are alive!"  
"Huh? B-But… I haven't seen any… you haven't either!"  
"I know, but that's because that man, that bone man… they called him Sans… he rebuilt Snowdin into a fortress and cut off all ties to the Ruins! But there is a river system that leads here, to Hotland! Frisk, there's hundreds of monsters waiting for you in the core!" Whimsun exclaims! Frisk merely looks down.

"Waiting for me, huh? To kill me?"  
"Frisk, I don't know what happened in the past- and I know you don't either, but it doesn't matter! We can go back, there's no reason to move on! This queen they're talking about, she apparently rules with a fist of iron, and every monster here is under strict orders not to kill you, but to bring you to her!" Whimsun stammers, explaining these dark things to Frisk.

"Bring me to her?"  
"Frisk, we have to go!"  
"But what about that skeleton man, Sans?!" Frisk exclaims, standing up from the orange dust below, standing over Whimsun!  
"He tried to kill me, that wasn't according to her order, was it?"  
"I think he's on his own! Frisk, you and I both know that there's nothing good for anyone at the end of this trail! There is no Asgore, there is no freedom! Only… d-death!" Whimsun begs, trying to get Frisk to leave. But he merely shakes his head. He looks beyond a small bridge to a ruined building, and just beyond it is a tall elevator.

"Nothing makes sense, but whatever else happens, I'll at least get the truth at the end." Frisk says, walking on. To his surprise, Whimsun lands on his shoulder.

"Then I'm coming with you."  
"It's going to be dangerous."  
"Everything past the Ruins was going to be dangerous, but now I feel like I might be able to help if I come with you." Whimsun says. Frisk smiles.  
"Thanks."

Frisk moves beyond the bridge and notices a ferry of sorts just downriver. There is no one on the ferry, but just in front of it is the elevator system. Frisk steps in it with Whimsun and activates it to go to R-3. They wait a small moment before popping out on the other side. Frisk walks just out of it and opens his eyes at what he sees.

"What is… that…?"  
"I think… that's… the Core." Whimsun explains.

Plated with slabs of iron, torches of monster magic flickering and sparking, and at its base are dozens if not hundreds of monsters, all within suits of armor. Frisk gulps.

"How am I going to get in there."  
"I have a plan."

* * *

"Halt. State your name." A guard asks, barring entrance.

"I'm Whimsun."  
"And I'm… uh… Mothperson." Frisk says, his entire body covered in moths. The guard puts his hand to his chin and raises an eyebrow.

"Strange. I don't recognize either of you." The guard interrogates.  
"We just came from the Ruins. It wasn't very easy, but we were looking to rejoin the Underground." Whimsun explains.  
"The Ruins? That's been locked off for years! I'm sure the Queen would love a status report on the outer realm. Please, go ahead. The correct way through the core is four lefts and a right. Can't miss it. Don't deviate or you'll fall into a pit of spikes." The guard says casually. Frisk gulps.

Whimsun and **Mothperson** walk through the guard blockade and into the inner core. They pass through several dazzling military installations. They arrive at what they can only assume is the core, energy running down the metal walls into various directions. Frisk makes four left turns and one right turn, before arriving at a door, within it smalls like…

"Smells like… the surface." Frisk says. Whimsun looks over.  
"The surface? You mean… we're that close to the castle?" Whimsun asks.  
"Yeah. Not long now. Let's keep going." Frisk says, walking within the room.

However, there's someone waiting for him in there…

* * *

 _Rotation 10_

 _It's been ten rotations, ten years. Frisk continues to rebuild the world looking for Asriel. I return every time with no memory, but this machine has stored what I have written onto it all these times. I have received very... very... interesting notes from Gaster 9. Zeroes and Ones I expected, but not so many Nines. The nature of our world being a program written in computer code was known to me, but I didn't know that the concept of Determination dabbled into such obscure things. Hundreds of pages of how the save point works, correlating new data with Alphys' old data._

 _But this... is inefficient. I need to find a way to condense all of this information down to the bare minimum, so that the next Gaster, Gaster 11, can read and understand it in less than a day. I have a plan to mess with the save point, but it will require me to utilize most of my year to change Toriel's house. After Frisk leaves the country, I will buy out Toriel's house under an anonymous name, give her a completely similar house nearby, hopefully Frisk won't tell the difference. By the time he comes back and resets the world, I will have changed the nature of this save point._

 _But what I do here will mean nothing if Gaster 11 doesn't work in time. I'll get to work on condensing Gaster 9's notes now, stripping it of all fat and still making it possible to learn everything, then I will alter Toriel's house and save point._


	11. Sans and the Human

Undertale: The Machine  
Chapter 11  
Sans and the Human

Frisk walks in and lightly gasps as the door behind them shuts violently. Within the center of the poorly lit room stands a single person. Hands in his pockets, and a scarf lying still in this stuffy room.

 **"There used to be thousands of people here, you know. Before it all happened."** Sans, the skeleton man sadly says, drawing attention to the empty room around them. They stand on an elevated platform, this looks like some sort of stage or concert hall.

"Sans, I-"  
 **"So you know my name now. About time. Hey Whimsun."** Sans says. Whimsun stays silent. Sans chuckles.  
 **"Nah, to be honest I don't really give a damn anymore. I gave it a lot of thought, kid. Letting you live, killing you, it brings me all back to those moments ten years ago. Lots of regrets pent up from that. I guess the last shred of decency must have frozen up in that river, because I'm not going to give you a chance to take anything else from us from this point on, Kid."** Sans aggressively states, blue energy burning around him and emanating from his eye, blowing his orange scarf!

"Sans, I… I want to help, but I don't know what to do." Frisk says.  
 **"From where I'm standing, it seems rather simple. Give up."**  
"Huh…?"  
 **"Drop to your knees. Right now. And I'll kill you."**  
"B-But-"  
 **"Once you die, the queen will take your soul… ascend to the surface… end the war with humanity… become a god… and then she will bring everyone back."** Sans says passionately. An emotion that seems rather odd coming from him.

"I… I don't know what to say." Frisk says, Sans still burning with energy. Sans diverts his eyes.  
 **"Look, kid. Even IF you're telling me the truth, that you don't remember anything, that you want to do the right thing, then that still leaves us with two options… you die here, or you pass me, kill the queen, and we're that much worse off again."  
**

"B-But I don't want anyone to die! I don't want to kill her, and I don't want to die!" Frisk yells! Sans gets a good look at their face and closes his eyes. He sighs, the blue energy still burning around him.

 **"Kid… I believe you. I don't know why, I know I shouldn't, but I do… but it doesn't matter. We're too late, ten years too late past my inability to do anything!"** Sans yells, energy engulfing his whole body and blowing Frisk's clothing violently!

 **"Kid, either you die now, or you die later, but I can't let you pass! Nothing you could possibly accomplish would be worth what I would gain from you dying right here, right now!"** Frisk gulps and stands firm.

"Do you really want my soul this bad…?" Frisk asks.  
"No." A strange voice no one recognizes lets out. Everyone, including Sans begins to look around. However before long, Frisk's chest begins to glow brightly as his red soul blinds the entire room! Everyone covers their eyes, and soon they open them back up again to notice a SECOND human standing with them.

"What…? Who are you?" Frisk asks, as the person looks back, giving him a good look at their face.  
"Greetings. I… am Chara." The being before them explains, wearing similar clothing to Frisk, though their shirt is lime green with cream stripes and they wear brown shorts. Their skin is also fairer, and their eyes have a striking malice to them. The person calling themselves Chara looks over to Sans.

"So, skeleton man, we meet again."  
 **"Who are you?!"  
** "It's fine that none of you remember me, this world hardly matters." Chara says, walking towards Sans, surprising both Sans and Frisk. Chara smiles and continues to talk.  
"You monsters… monster scientists… Sans… Alphys… **Gaster…!** " Chara hisses, that last one perking Sans' attention and causing him to break into a cold sweat.  
"So you remember him. Then allow me to let you in on a little secret, skeleton…" Chara says, extending their hand out as a bolt of red electricity forms a knife in their hand!

"Killing Frisk won't reset the timeline." Chara confirms, but then Frisk shakes his head.  
"Wait, I thought Sans wanted my soul? Why would he care about a reset?" Frisk asks. Chara looks back with a rather annoyed expression.  
"Really, Frisk, you haven't figured it out? Do you recall the exact moment this **coward** showed his face to you?"  
"Huh? I was… in Snowdin, why?"  
"No, Frisk, the EXACT moment he showed his face… you were talking with Whimsun… and you mentioned that you couldn't see your save points anymore." Chara retells. Frisk remembers suddenly, but then cocks his head.

"Okay, what about it?"  
"Sans was watching you this whole time- even in the Ruins, and the instant he realized that you haven't saved yet, he jumped out and tried to murder you in one swoop. If it wasn't for Whimsun making him doubt himself, he would have!" Chara growls, gripping the red knife and locking eyes with Sans, who also begins to churn with blue energy! Soon, the entire room is engulfed in a tornado of opposing polarities!

 **"You're kind of a freak, aren't ya?"** Sans asks. Chara smiles.  
"But guess what, skeleton man? Even if Frisk dies, he won't go back to ten years ago. On the contrary, this entire world, past, present, and future, will cease to exist. Your entire life is nothing but a simulation from a demented mind! But I'm sure you know what that's like!" Chara and Sans look about ready to kill each other, but Frisk and Whimsun run in between them!

"STOP! This won't solve anything!" Frisk yells to Chara!  
"Sans please, maybe they're right, maybe this isn't worth it! Just stop!" Whimsun begs Sans!

"Frisk, haven't you wondered why I'm even here? This world is a sham, a **FAKE**! Everything about it is falsified! Their memories, your memories, your actions and this entire dimension, they all exist for exactly one purpose, and if it comes true, the last thing you want will come true!" Chara yells at Frisk!

 **"Buddy, step aside. This doesn't concern you! At this point it doesn't even matter if Frisk is a good person or not, their death can save so many from suffering!"** Sans yells at Whimsun! Chara laughs and Sans moves to look them in the eye again.

"Did you not listen to anything I just said, Sans? Your world is a lie, as are your emotions and actions! The only thing **real** here is Frisk and his soul! But his soul is being torn apart by these fake realities, which is how I'm even here. If you want Frisk, then you're gonna have to get through me!" Chara says, before breaking into a toothy smile-

"But I know you can't get through me! No one can!" Chara yells, lunging at Sans, but unexpectedly Frisk blocks them off and grabs them by the arm, throwing them across the room! Chara's back explodes against the wall of the MTT arena and they fall to their feet. Sans however doesn't skip a beat, and to Whimsun's horror, he lunges out and draws a magical bone and stabs it through Frisk's abdomen while he's not looking!

"GAHAHHH!" Frisk yells, falling to his knees! Sans raises the bone and attempts to slash down on Frisk's neck to kill him instantly, but Chara blasts from the nearby wall and beats the weapon out of Sans's hand and he bounces backwards. Frisk looks up at Chara with blood pouring from their open wound.

"Hurts, Frisk, doesn't it?" Chara says. Frisk says nothing and Chara surprisingly lifts their foot up and pins Frisk to the floor.

"DON'T GET IN MY WAY…!" They yell before rushing off towards Sans! Frisk remains on the floor as Whimsun flies over!  
"Oh my God, Frisk! Are you okay?!" Frisk looks up with tears and frustration in their eyes. His body is wounded… but he's okay for now…  
"I don't… know… what's going on…" Frisk says, closing their eyes as tears begin to fall down. He clasps his open wound, but Whimsun nears him and extends their hands to use warm magic to help heal it slightly. Frisk opens his eyes.

"Huh?"  
"Something I learned in Snowdin, stand still!"

* * *

Chara slashes at Sans again and again with their red knife, but Sans dodges each one, however one nick ends up blasting a good chunk of the orange scarf into ash!

"Oh, it's like your brother is dying all over again!"  
 **"YOU SON OF A-"** Sans yells, losing his composure and going on the offensive! All Chara can do is laugh and giggle as he expends all of his energy foolishly trying to hit them! Sans tries to swing down his bone attack as hard as he can, but Chara blocks it with their red knife and uses their other palm to open punch Sans in the chest, knocking the breath out of him! Chara twists their knife and stabs it down towards Sans, but to their surprise, Frisk jumps out from behind them and kicks them away! Sans regains his breath and slashes at Frisk, who this time is on the defensive!

"What are you DOING?!" Frisk yells!  
 **"My life means nothing kid, you HAVE to die! There's no other option!"  
** "THERE'S ALWAYS ANOTHER OPTION!" Frisk yells, grabbing Sans' slashing arm and throwing him into the middle of the room! However, Chara rebounds from the attack they took to come and try to land a death blow on Sans!

"NOOO!" Frisk yells out, but Whimsun launches a myriad of moths at Chara, blinding them for only a moment, causing Sans to recover and back away! Sans, Frisk, and Chara all look at each other.

 **"Kid, I know what you're trying to do, but it doesn't matter. No matter how many times you stop me, or Chara, I'm going to try to kill you. I can't afford to be lenient on this anymore."**

"HAHAHAHA! What conviction! Stupid man, all your self-righteous tripe will serve nothing! Frisk may be stupid in trying to save your worthless life, but they're infinitely more useful to this and ALL worlds alive, not dead. So why don't you put down your gaudy little toys and move along. We have a queen to kill." Chara suggests, juggling the knife in their hand. Sans growls and his bony fists shudder!

 **"You… demon…!"**  
"Frisk, do you see how this man tries to act when you attempt to save his life? Your vapid pacifism means nothing here. You will only get yourself killed! Fight back!" Chara commands, but Frisk closes his eyes and feels his chest.

"No… NO! In another world, I know it for a fact, we were FRIENDS, Sans!"  
 **"…!"** Sans grits his teeth! **  
**"I won't let this happen! I won't let any of you die, not anymore! I won't let this world be ruled by Flowey's flawed philosophy! No one has to kill, no one has to be killed!"

"HAHAHA! Frisk, you're far more gone than I initially thought. Don't worry, I'll end this quick!" Chara roars, spinning their knife and taking off at the speed of sound! Sans dodges the attacks faster than Frisk can see, but Frisk runs forward regardless! He gets in between Sans and Chara, and it causes Chara's eyes to go wide! They stop attacking for a moment and Frisk braces for an attack from Sans, but it doesn't happen!

Instead, Frisk opens his eyes to see Chara flying across the room with bones in their body. He looks back to see Sans letting off a scary expression, but he's not attacking Frisk anymore. Instead, what looks like a pair of tears are running down his face. Frisk nods and looks back at Chara. It looks like Frisk, Whimsun, and Sans are all on the same side now!

"WHAT, so I'M the badguy, Frisk?!"  
"You don't have to be! Sans doesn't have to die! I believe in him, and you should too!"  
"…" Chara sighs and crosses their arms.

"All of this work… and no one even dies. How boring." Chara says, their body fizzling into red light before vanishing into Frisk's chest.

* * *

Frisk sighs, relieved. Whimsun flies back onto his shoulder and he looks back at Sans, who is looking at the floor.

"Sans…?"  
 **"Kid… I… I don't know what to do. I'm consumed with so many different emotions right now. When… When I look at you, I-"** He says, looking over at Frisk and beginning to scowl.

 **"All I can remember is seeing my brother die… seeing Asgore die… when I look at you… I see a murderer…"**  
"…" Frisk says nothing.  
 **"But I feel… I feel like you're right."** Sans says, with the tears coming down even more now.  
 **"In another world… we… we WERE friends… and I… I… I can't. I feel like I… NEED to kill you, to let Papyrus have his revenge, but… Papyrus wouldn't want that… and maybe… maybe that kid was right, maybe it won't even do any good. Damn it, kid…"**

"Sans…"  
 **"Kid. Beyond this stadium is New Home, castle to the queen. Keep walking, and you'll find her. Originally I thought there were only two possiiblities. You'll kill her, or she'll kill you… but now I don't know. I don't know anything anymore. I spent the last ten years doing nothing but brooding in my hatred… imagining ways to get revenge… but now you come back and you have amnesia… and this… damnable morality."** Sans says, looking up. Frisk looks up too, but there's nothing up there, just blackness. He looks back down to see that Sans is trying to fight back more tears.

 **"My entire life has been a sham… and finally when it reaches its end… I have no power over my own destiny… AGAIN…!"** Sans closes his eyes.

 **"Go. Meet with the queen, and end this. Please. Anything is better than standing here."** Sans says. Frisk nods.

"Goodbye, Sans." Frisk waves.  
"Bye…" Whimsun says.  
 **"…"** Sans says nothing as they walk off towards New Home.

 **"Gaster…"**

* * *

 _Rotation 11_

 _I got the notes from Gaster 10 and worked as fast as I could. I made it to Toriel's house before Frisk did. I knocked him out with a drug synthesized to 10's exact specifications. Since I made it here so early, Toriel naturally moved into a different house. I don't think they know Frisk is missing yet._

 _The save point that Gaster 10 messed with... should make this house that I built to his exact specifications the next point Frisk will go when he loads his game. Frisk may reset the world at any time, but he can only load if he dies. Which means..._

 _What happens if I kill Frisk?_


	12. Ballad of the Blind Queen

Undertale: The Machine  
Chapter 12  
Ballad of the Blind Queen

Frisk and Whimsun reach a dilapidated, barely maintained elevator and begin the slow descent down. Frisk is silent, and seemingly depressed. It makes Whimsun similarly sad.

"What do you think is going to happen, Frisk?" Whimsun asks. Frisk winces and sighs.  
"I don't know. Sans didn't know either."  
"But he let us go…"  
"Sans apparently had a hard life because of whatever it was I did ten years ago. His brother, his friends… the monster king. I don't know what I can do. I'll just do what comes naturally to me I guess." Frisk says as the elevator reaches the bottom and the door opens. He steps out and is greeted with the air of New Home, so close to the lip of Ebott that you can smell fresh air from the outside world.

He and Whimsun travel north to a small house. Therein, a wave of memories wash over Frisk, along with an assortment of new experiences.

* * *

To Whimsun's shock, there are monsters here, even some of their own kind! This deep within the underground that you have to pass through snow, rain, river, lava, and a bastion of iron and magical electricity… all leading to this almost eerily calm and serene location:

New Home.

Voices of the monsters echo through this area, telling a story from tradition. Most old, some new.

 **Not long ago, monsterkind of governed by a wise and compassionate king. Asgore.  
Asgore, the mountain king, pledged to grant us freedom from the tyranny and bondage of the humans…  
Through the use of seven human souls, we would shatter the barrier… and be free.**

Frisk and Whimsun travel through this area, seemingly unaffected by Frisk's rampage ten years ago. To be honest, it brings a pause to Frisk's momentum as he simply looks around.

"Frisk?" Whimsun asks. Frisk says nothing, merely smiling and beginning to tear up.  
"I'm… I'm beginning to remember." He says with tears welling.

 **But mankind was not through with us. As if through some twist of fate, the seventh human finally arrived…  
But behind them was an arsenal and skill beyond their expectations…  
One by one, each monster in their way was torn asunder, their ashes blown to the winds…**

Frisk hears the testimony of the monsters and raises his hand to his chest.  
"Chara… if what you're saying is true, and this world is fake… then why do I feel such real pain…?" He asks himself, closing his eyes tightly and twisting his hand over his chest.

Frisk explores the kitchen and within the fridge is a pie. Seeing it gives Frisk pause as he opens his mouth agape.

"Frisk…?"  
"I… don't believe it… who… who made this?" Frisk asks, sticking his finger into the pie and tasting it.  
"Cinnamon… butterscotch… how? Asgore never mastered the recipe…"  
"Then, the queen?" Whimsun suggests.  
"Who… IS the queen?"

 **Monsters, even in our unity of purpose could not stand up to their blows or their determination…  
All of the royal guard was terminated overnight, and soon the human reached our king…  
Our king, full of compassion and mercy met with the human, and in his final moments, was relieved of his regretful life…**

Frisk proceeds to a nearby room, and within it are two empty presents, out of place within this static area. He instead goes into the next room to see everything exactly the same.

"Asgore's room. Everything's the… huh?" Frisk says before noticing something on his desk. A plate with a slice of pie on it, and a note. Frisk reads it.

 **"You weren't kidding, big guy. It was hard, it took me nine years, but I finally mastered the queen's old recipe. Butterscotch Cinnamon pie. I remember when you used to tell me about it over golden flower tea. It's as good as you made it out. I miss you. I hope that these sentiments reach you, wherever you are, Asgore…**

 **Regards: Undyne."**

"Undyne…?!" Frisk gasps!  
"Frisk? What's wrong?"  
"But my memory… I… I killed her! How is she still alive? Is… is she the queen?"

 **The underground fell into despair. The human had taken everything from us, and vanished…  
However, a faint hope blossomed from within the rage of our hero, Undyne.  
She took the throne, body burnt and eyes destroyed… she took the burden of the crown upon herself…  
The underground was filled with hope…**

Frisk, pondering this potential timeline continues along New Home through the basement. Whimsun is beginning to understand the situation better as well, though it still fills them with anxiety.

 **The queen told us that the first human to fall would be butchered with impunity.  
Then with only a single soul, she would ascend to the surface and find the human that did this.  
She would kill them, grind their soul to dust, and devour the world of the humans…**

"Undyne… how…?" Frisk thinks to himself, looking at the city in the background. A light mist from the surface air wafting over them both. It won't be long now…

 **However… ten long years passed. Not a single human fell. Our hopes were fading…  
The queen had secluded herself in her castle, her commandments and priorities had changed…  
If a human with a red soul falls, they are not to be killed… they are to be brought to her.**

"You said the same thing, Whimsun."  
"Mmhm. The guards in Snowdin said that you were to be brought to her at all costs…"  
"But why?"

 **The royal guard had not heard from our queen in nearly a year until their orders changed…  
Our queen had changed, normally so full of vigor and hate, she had settled into the life of an introvert…  
As the days past, the royal guard became more irate… it felt like the world could end at any moment.**

Just a stone's throw from the final corridor, Frisk takes one final step.

 **The new leader of the royal guard, Sans, returned with news.  
Our queen was ill… soon she would pass from this world. What ails her we do not know.  
He vowed that a human would soon fall, and they would be brought to her… and so we have waited.**

Frisk steps into the final corridor and orange light burns through dusty windows. Frisk and Whimsun progress through large shading pillars before coming face to face with someone familiar.

 **"Kid…"**  
"Sans…"  
 **"I don't know what to say. I thought of a hundred ways this could end up, and this wasn't one of them."** Sans says, his half-cut orange memento of his brother Papyrus draping over his shoulder.

"I will find a way to do the right thing Sans."  
 **"Heh… I know you'll try. But will you succeed? I don't know."** He says, closing his eyes.  
 **"Kid. For the first time since I saw you… I don't see a murderer anymore. I don't know how to describe it, but being back here brings… well, if not good, then at least bittersweet memories. You've done nothing but avoid fighting since you got here, and you saved my life from that kid even though I was trying to take yours…"** He says, recalling the events prior.

 **"Kid?"**  
"Yeah?"  
 **"If the choice comes between her dying… or you dying… please. Find a way around it. Don't let her die, don't let this suffering continue."** Sans asks. Frisk nods. Sans smiles and vanishes.

"Goodbye, Sans."

* * *

 _Rotation 12_

 _I woke up in Toriel's house next to my machine. Frisk lies comatose on the table before me. I have foggy memories of how or why I got here, but Gaster 10 and 11 have succeeded. Frisk is now fully within our control._

 _But now what? How can we break this cycle that Frisk has locked us in? I'll dedicate this year to keeping Frisk alive as long as possible without him waking up. If he wakes up, he may reset the world, but every time he dies we'll simply come back._

 _ADDENDUM: It just occurred to me that if we can keep Frisk alive we could, in theory, keep him here for even longer than a year. It would be very unfortunate if he were to die at an inopportune time however, it's in our best interests, at least for now, to keep our experiments simple. Simply get a more hands-on approach to researching Determination and its effect on Frisk himself. I will make an update every day Frisk is alive, and I will note every single experiment I perform on his body._


	13. Eine Wahre Königin

Undertale: The Machine  
Chapter 13  
Eine Wahre Königin

Frisk walks beyond the final corridor and takes a small detour down a conspicuous eastern path. He walks down echoing dust laden stairs to view a room. Inside is a plethora of wooden coffins, each destroyed, plywood and splinters littering the room. The human souls are gone, and have been for a long time. Frisk walks back up to the stone archway into the final areas of New Home.

The Throne Room.

He walks forward, noticing that the room is completely dark, no light in sight. He steps on dried, dead flowers, and stumbles over a broken chair. Frisk feels something on his head and looks up. Rain? It's raining here in the throne room? Did it do that before? He stands up and looks around, it's completely dark, nearly impossible to see anything in here.

 **"Ah… a human…"** A weak voice lets out from within the darkness, causing Frisk's ears to perk up.  
"Undyne? Is that you? I've… come back."  
 **"Haha… yes… you have. *COUGH"** The voice hacks, hidden in the shadows.  
"Where are you? Why is it so dark in here?"  
 **"Dark? Oh, yes… you see… I haven't been able to see for many years now… I sort of… lack the organs to do so."** Undyne says. Frisk gulps, remembering that vivid memory he had back in Hotland.

 **"So… you've returned. I can only assume you've returned to finish the job… finish what you started…"** Undyne growls. Frisk darts his eyes around in every direction, he can't see where she is.  
"I… I'm sorry for what happened ten years ago! But… I've lost my memory since then. I've made friends, and come back to meet you!" Frisk says, Whimsun flying from his shoulder into the darkness.

"H-He's right, Queen Undyne! He's saved my life, and I've saved him! The leader of your royal guard, Sans, even now owes his life to Frisk, and has let him come here in hopes that we can find a better solution for everyone!" Whimsun explains to the darkness.

For a while, nothing is said, and water drips from the ceilings, heard upon Frisk's head, but not the floor. A strong wind from the surface just beyond blows through as well. It smells like yellow flowers.

 **"For ten years… I had tempered my rage into the tools of an empire. Hammers, nails, blades… I built fortresses in Snowdin and Hotland, our troops are trained with solid weapons, not magical ones, that the human that destroyed our way of life might finally die… then a year ago I come down with an unknown illness… and you show up… and you don't- *COUGH* … even remember doing these things."** Undyne states with pained words beyond the veil of darkness. Before long, cyan lights pour towards the ceiling, magical spears form into a ball of light, and the room becomes dimly illuminated.

At the end of the room, Undyne: The Queen of the Mountain, can be seen slumped weakly in a chair, clad in colossal armor, but defiant and unmoving. Across her face is a blindfold, stained with years' worth of pain and sorrow. One arm perches upon the bar of the only still standing throne, while another arm rests weakly on her lap. With the room illuminated Asgore's garden is completely dried, baked with heat and sand, as if water had never touched them in years…

But it's raining…? Frisk looks around and noticed that the raindrops never hit the ground, instead right before impact, they spin and crawl up the walls before falling again, never reaching the floor.

 **"You can see me now, human… you can see me, and my world… for what you left it for over a decade."**  
"Undyne… I…"  
 **"You can see it… but I can't. But you know what I CAN do, human? I can FEEL it! *COUGH"** Undyne snaps before breaking into a coughing fit! Frisk instinctively steps forward to help her, but she raises her hand for him to stop.

 **"I don't need your false pity."** She insults, putting her hand back down, her lungs calming.  
 **"I don't know what lies you fed to Sans. I thought I could trust him to do his job this time. I don't know how, or why, but you convinced him otherwise… even with a constant reminder of your sins draping over his neck."** Whimsun shakes their head and flutters closer!

"Frisk has changed! He truly has! He wants to help us!"  
 **"HOW?!"** Undyne bellows, both arms grabbing her throne! Whimsun is blown back from the ferocity of the yell as the Blind Queen bares her fangs.  
 **  
"You… Sans… you're all the same. Too sentimental… too forgiving… this person. This human… is a murderer. How could you EVER see past that?!"** She hisses. Frisk diverts his eyes.

 **"Do you feel sad, or antagonized, human? Maybe you DO have amnesia, but it doesn't matter. The crown rests upon my head and none other because of your actions. Your sorrow, your regrets… they mean… NOTHING. They will not bring back the people you killed, the people I swore to protect!"** Undyne growls, a wound on her face splitting open.

 **"Gah… these burns… the lava would have killed me instantly if it wasn't for my armor. Alphys saved me as fast as she could, but it was too late to save my eye, and several of my limbs… but I have new ones."** Undyne claims, moving the one hand she had resting on the throne this whole time. A distinctly mechanical sound heard when doing so.

"So… what are we going to do?" Frisk asks, staring Undyne in what would be her eyes.  
 **"It's simple. I'm going to kill you- *COUGH. Ack… and rise to the surface… get six more souls and… *GASP. Return!"** Undyne says with pained words. She smacks her lips and continues.  
 **"With your long overdue death, I will ascend and break the monsters of their bondage, and finally I will break your entire demonic race over my knee. I swear it on the Spear of Justice!"** She yells, the cyan light on the ceiling of the room transforming into a cyan spear and exploding towards the stone near Undyne.

 **"But first… I will need to release my concentration."** She says. Surprisingly, the rain in the room falls to the ground all at once. Was… was Undyne making it rain with her mind?! Before Frisk can ponder that further, she rises from her throne with a distinctly mechanical array of sounds.

 **"Human. Draw your weapon."**  
"I don't have a weapon, we don't have to fight! We can find another way!"  
 **"Then I will give you one."** Undyne states, throwing the Spear of Justice at Frisk, who flinches, but it lands near his feet. He looks down at it and shakes his head.  
"I won't. Fighting is what caused this world to become like this! I WONT FIGHT YOU, UNDYNE!"  
 **"… *COUGH."** Undyne shakes her head, her massive suit of semi-mechanical armor recoiling from the coughing fit.

* * *

Frisk looks at Undyne. Undyne frowns. Her left hand's knuckles crack as she balls it into a fist, but her right hand simply steams and lets off electricity.

 **"I gave you a chance to defend yourself. Now all you have to do… is die."  
** "UNDYNE!" Whimsun yells as they are blown out of the room with magical energy! Frisk turns back as the way out of the throne room is engulfed in blue fire! He looks back at Undyne as her armor explodes upwards and covers the bottom half of her face in a mask of iron and steel with steam and bolts of lightning!

" **HUMAN, I, UNDYNE, WILL STRIKE YOU DOWN… AND DESTROY EVERYTHING YOU HAVE EVER LOVED!"** She roars with a robotic crackle, rumbling the entire throne room as her empty eye sockets erupt with blue flame! She lunges at Frisk, and right as Frisk realizes she doesn't have a weapon, her robotic right arm extends several magically electric claws and she crashes down on Frisk! Frisk bounds backwards to avoid attacks as best he can, but she strikes him in the chest with a massive blow, knocking spit from his mouth and careening him into a nearby wall!

He falls to his knees and coughs, but as soon as he looks up, she's already barreling down on him again! With deep anguish, he fires to his feet and extends his hands outward, catching Undyne's hands in his own! Steam and electricity blows from Undyne's armor!

Recollections of Asgore flash within Frisk's eyes.

 **It was nice to meet you…  
Goodbye…  
Ah… so that is how it is...  
In truth, I did not want power…  
Please, take this soul and leave this cursed place…**

"ASGORE!" Frisk yells with a passionate rumbling of his body, the choice of word catching Undyne off guard as Frisk balls a fist and pushes her into the center of the room! Frisk follows her and slides between her legs, grabbing the Spear of Justice from the ground below and rolling into a battle position.

 **"SO YOU'RE READY TO FIGHT? TO DIE, OR FINISH WHAT YOU STARTED?!"  
** "If there's one thing I learned from Asgore, it's that when everything is on the line, only when a happy day is on the other side, is there ever justification to kill! You dare call yourself his apprentice, and successor Undyne?! Asgore was a peaceful man who despised what he had to do and wouldn't even look me in the eye… if… if things were different…"

 **"YOU ARE THE ONE WHO KILLED HIM!"** She bellows, her armor locking into place and exploding at Frisk, the wilted yellow flowers turning to petals and pollen! Frisk raises the spear and blocks her attacks, grinding against them with sparks flying in all directions! Her red hair dilapidated and stained with sweat and grime, her face scarred and the blindfold soaked with sorrow… but beneath all of that is a solid black steel mask of the new underground's monarch!

 **"YOU WOULD DARE TELL ME HIS INTENTS, HIS REGRETS?! THAT MAN MADE ME INTO WHO I AM TODAY, AND EVERY TIME HIS NAME SLIPS FROM YOUR TONGUE, IT BURNS… I WILL RIP IT FROM YOU!"** Undyne threatens, pushing harder and harder against Frisk, who has no intention of truly fighting back!

What can he do?! He wants this to stop, but there's nothing he can think of! His heart is beating a mile a minute and his adrenaline is pumping, he can't think properly, and it takes all his strength to avoid retaliating!

* * *

"Frisk! Frisk! Dang it, open this stupid gate!" Whimsun says, banging against it with all their power.

 **"That won't help."** A familiar voice lets out from behind them. Whimsun looks around with tears in their frightened eyes!  
"Sans, this is terrible, they're fighting! I can't do anything!"  
 **"I know…"** He says, closing his eyes with a strange smile.  
"What… are you smiling about?"  
 **"Undyne once told me that words are cheap, and that your eyes can lie to you… that the truth of who someone is comes from battle. She told me that it took losing her vision to understand it fully herself. If Frisk can hold on, I'm sure he'll find out himself."**

* * *

Frisk and Undyne continue the power struggle, pollen and dust blowing in the wet raining room of Asgore's ruined throne. Frisk takes deep breaths, recovering from savage attacks that would kill a lesser human. Undyne too breathes deeply, and it surprises Frisk that she hasn't been coughing at all.

 **"YOU… TOOK THEM ALL FROM ME… PAPYRUS… ASGORE… EVEN ALPHYS…"  
** "Didn't Alphys make that armor for you? Don't lie to me! I did no such thing!"  
 **"MAYBE NOT DIRECTLY, BUT AFTER SHE SAVED ME, AND REALIZED WHAT SHE TURNED ME INTO… THE STRAINS THIS NEW BODY PUTS ON MY SOUL… SHE VANISHED A YEAR AGO, AND NEVER RETURNED. IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT, HUMAN, AND THE UNDERGROUND DESERVES JUSTICE!"** She yells, balling electricity into her hand and launching it like a cannon at Frisk! He resists the ball of energy with Undyne's begotten spear, but it explodes and blasts skin from his face! He falls to the dirt below, bleeding and with ringing ears. He opens his dizzy eyes to see Undyne walking over to him.

He rises to his wobbly feet before she punches him in the face, causing a tooth to fly across the room before his head bangs against the wall, resulting in a mild concussion. Frisk blacks out… Undyne steps over and picks his unconscious body up by the neck!

"FRISK, NO! NOOOOO! PUT HIM DOWN, PLEASE!" Whimsun yells through the gate. Undyne can hear them, she always heard them since this battle began, begging to spare this human, this murderer.

The small neck of Frisk within her grasp, she can only remember memories of what he ever looked like. Short. Plain. Innocent enough looking, but with a distant glare that belied their ability to cause the most terrible injustices. To her bewilderment, he doesn't feel like he's done any growing.

 **"Undyne."** A man behind Undyne says. Undyne turns her head, though she obviously doesn't look at him.  
 **"MY FAILED ROYAL GUARD CAPTAIN. I GUESS THAT MAKES TWO OF US."  
"There's no need to kill him."  
"HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN WHAT HE DID TO PAPYRUS?!"  
"Of course not… he was my brother…"** Sans says with closed eyes and a sigh.  
 **"Look at him…"  
"IS THAT SUPPOSED TO BE A JOKE? YOU KNOW I CAN'T."  
"Heh, as tempting as a joke would be, that's not what I meant. You can see into him, I know you can. You told me so yourself." **Sans chuckles and explains. Undyne's face mask shoots downward, showing the gasping, wheezing queen within.

"Why… are you defending him… Sans?" She asks.  
 **"Because he wasn't who killed Papyrus. He wasn't the one who killed any of them. He's completely innocent."  
** "How… How can ***COUGH**. You say that?! All we need is his soul… and we can go to the surface…!"  
 **"And then what? Destroy everyone so that we can live in peace on the surface? Those humans up there aren't the ones that shoved us down here either. They've been long dead. This war wasn't theirs. Asgore's declaration of war was merely a combination of unfortunate events… and it got everyone killed."**

"Are you trying to justify the humans' killing of Asriel… the late King's son?"  
 **"Just as they attacked a monster they thought killed one of their own, so you do hold one by the neck."** Sans states. Undyne looks back over at Frisk in her hands, gasping for breath and face cut, bruised, and unconscious. Her hand begins to tremble and she drops him to the floor, the fire wall keeping Whimsun burning out as they fly in and rush to Frisk's side.

"FRISK! ARE YOU OKAY?!"

"Sans… what should I do…?" Undyne asks with an uncharacteristic shakiness in her voice.  
 **"Killing him will only bring more suffering. Exterminating the human race would make us no better than them. There is a happy ending out there somewhere… but it's not here…"  
** "…" Undyne says nothing. Whimsun shakes Frisk as Undyne and Frisk look down at him.

"Sans… I * **COUGH…** I trust you."

* * *

 _Rotation 13_

 _I woke up in the strange room with several reports from Gaster 12. He accelerated the aggression of his experiments for four days, and the notes cut off there. He must have killed Frisk. The last experiment he did was injecting Chemical B-8 into him. This was after three days of no food and no water. I will try force feeding Frisk and performing the same experiments._

 _Update: Frisk has been alive for seven days now. I've received a lot of information on the various reports on the Save Point as well as Frisk's heart from Gaster 12, and now I've even cracked a couple other codes. For instance, one that's very interesting is how Frisk's soul directly relates to the Save Point, the very point at which his Determination and the Save Point's Determination mesh. The exact instant Frisk dies, his Determination will match the exact information sequence as the Save Point. This, I believe, is how the world can change while Frisk stays the same._

 _Luckily, we already altered the Save Point to cause Frisk to not only wake up in this house, which was once Toriel's, but also in this position of his. I wonder if we can alter this save point any farther? This machine of ours... we haven't fully dissected all of the information it has for us._

 _... Haha, look at me. Calling myself "us". It's just me, always me, always a single me, but various versions of me. It's strange, I almost feel companionship with these notes, each from past versions of myself. I hate Frisk for making me do this. I could just kill him right now, but that would just end the world, and wouldn't THAT be the freakiest time loop you've ever seen? A constant circle of me murdering a child, and waking back up with no memory of doing so._

 _In this position, it will be extremely easy to cause a temporal anomaly. I must tread with extreme maturity._


	14. The Price of Infinity

Undertale: The Machine  
Chapter 14  
The Price of Infinity

"Just sparing him was a stretch… ***GASP.** Don't you think this is excessive?"  
 **"We don't have a choice, we're going to lose him."**  
"So what if we do? Won't he just go back to his infernal save point?"  
 **"I don't think it's that simple… if we want to see this through to the end… they must be alive."  
** "I… I trust you."

Sans and Undyne converse to each other as Frisk lies on a medical table. The beeping of the machines around him giving him nervous cases of Déjà vu. However, he cannot seem to wake up. Undyne's attacks, the mixture between cold hard steel and monster magic have sent him into a slight coma. He can hear, he can think, he can understand, but he can't move, talk, or react in any way, as if his mind has been paralyzed from the rest of his body.

 **"Where's the DT extractor?"  
** "Alphys' old creation? Why ***COUGH.** Do you need that?" Undyne asks.  
 **"If the human can't see his save points… then he doesn't have enough Determination. That other kid… Chara was it? They mentioned Gaster…?"** Sans says, closing his eyes.

"Gaster…? I don't recall…"  
 **"I know. But for now, we need to see if we can fix this soul. It may look fine, but there's something obviously wrong with it if he can't see his save points."** Sans says. Undyne nods, moving her mechanical body over to the DT extractor in the other room and pulling it over into this one.

 **"Ever since Alphys left a year ago, the Amalgamates here have gone still, and apathetic. It's as if they're all dead. They won't respond as much as I try… it's possible- it's a longshot- but we might be able to take the artificial DT out of them and put them into this human."**

"At least it would put them out of their misery…" Undyne says. Sans sadly nods.

Undyne and Sans gather up all of the comatose Amalgamates and gather them near the DT extractor. As expected, none of them react. From Memoryhead to Reaperbird, none of them react in even a minor way.

 **"I just got a bad feeling about this."**  
"Huh? About what? The Amalgamates?"  
 **"No, about the kid. What if he gets his Determination back, what then? Someone, or something took it from him… but here he is walking around as if everything's normal, except he doesn't remember anything…"** Sans says. Undyne's blind face furrows its brow.

"You mean… what ***GASP.** If they remember why they did the things they did?"  
 **"That… and what if whatever did this suddenly makes their move, and we end up in another ten year cycle?"  
** "Unfortunately I don't think we have much of a choice, do we? Anything is better than this." Undyne claims. Sans looks down at his scarf, and over at Undyne's body and blindfold.

They've lived hard lives. If this even has a chance of breaking the cycle of suffering, they have to try. Sans nods, flipping the DT extractor on, the Amalgamates soon turning from blobby messes to pure dust, scattering upon the floor. Undyne and Sans frown from the action, but the DT extractor hums to life, now filled with a small amount of Determination.

 **"Kid, if this doesn't work, I'm sorry. I tried."** Sans says, flipping the switch, a white laser hitting Frisk's red heart!

* * *

 _FRISK'S EYES SHOOT WIDE OPEN!_

* * *

But when he does, he notices he's not anywhere he recognizes, not even within his heart's memory. He looks to see a sunrise over a mountain. He's… on the surface? But why? He looks into the distance to see a city burning, and around him are cracks and vents of steam in the mountain he stands on. He rises to his feet, trying to understand what he's seeing.

"Sans? Undyne? Whimsun?!" Frisk yells out, looking for his friends! However, he feels something behind him and turns around to see someone he didn't expect to recognize.

"You… you're… you're Alphys! What are you doing on the surface?"  
 **"…"** The person he called Alphys doesn't respond. There's… something strange about her. Frisk backs up a small bit, before losing balance and slipping down the mountain! However, to his shock, he ends up landing in mid-air! He looks down to see he's sitting on top of a magical glass platform.

 **"You're in danger."** Alphys says. Before Frisk can respond, he's flown hundreds of miles into the sky! To his amazement, there's no resistance, he's able to stand perfectly balanced as this happens! He looks down on Earth with wide eyes! The entire planet is burning, every city razed to the ground…

 **"This world is fake. But you knew that already."** Alphys says from behind Frisk, who turns around again!  
"What are you doing, what is all of this?! Are you really Alphys?"  
 **"Don't worry about me. A year ago, I left the Underground using a fake soul. I had finally found the means to leave without using a real soul, but I couldn't go back. If I told Undyne, she would go to the surface… but after what I did to her body, I couldn't stand it. So I took action myself, I killed seven humans with my own hands, and became God. But…"** Alphys states, shrugging with an odd expression on her face.

 **"As I've said, as you know, this world is fake. God means little if you are within the cycle of a fake world. So here we are."**

"So, what do you want from me?"  
 **"I want you to wake up. Your save point is finally open to you again."  
** "Huh? How?"  
 **"Sans and Undyne entered my lab and shot you full of Determination, some of the only real stuff in this world. I realized it myself about a year ago, when the Amalgamates stopped moving, there was something wrong with the very nature of Determination. The barrier was acting funny too, it was still keeping us down there of course, but it had weakened. Creating a small soul made out of flimsy Determination shouldn't have worked. I would know, I've tried it more than a decade ago, but it finally worked this time. I figured out why shortly after I became God a year ago."** Alphys explains, both of them standing miles above the Earth, above even the clouds.

 **"It's because my old mentor, Gaster, cannot fake a human soul."** She explains. Frisk eyes go wide.  
"That name, who IS Gaster?! Chara said their name, Sans said their name, and now you! Who is he?!"  
 **"He is your jailor, and if you don't wake up… he will be your executioner."** She says, extending her hand out before a sword appears out of thin air. Frisk's eyes go wide. The sword is long, solid, and blood red, small liquid patterns pass over its blade.

"What… is that?"  
 **"This is your key to waking up. Not just from your coma within the lab, but from within your coma in GASTER'S lab! He desires infinity, but you cannot give it to him, Frisk!"** Alphys claims, holding a small rainbow colored heart from her chest.

 **"This is what Gaster wants, Frisk. From the suffering of the underground, from the real memories pulled into your fake imaging of the underground, it was all supposed to lead to this moment, the moment where I become God within this world. It wasn't about Undyne, it wasn't about Sans, it wasn't even about you. This world was specifically created only for this moment."**

"But I thought you said that Gaster can't emulate a human soul! How do you even have that?"

 **"This isn't a real human soul, this is a fake. A "false" infinity. However, that's where you come in, Frisk. He took away JUST enough of your Determination so that you cannot save and load, and controlled your destiny to lead you through this new underground of suffering. At the end, should you have killed Undyne and ascended to the surface with her soul, this world would end, and my false infinity would fire into your soul… but you didn't kill Undyne. Instead, they gave you what little Determination this world had stolen from you, and now here we are, at the ending of this fake world."** Alphys states, throwing the blood red sword at Frisk, who catches it.

"Then… what will happen…?"

 **"I don't know. But I do know that if you take this infinity from me, that you will awaken, Gaster will take it from you, and then you will die along with your whole race. Which is why…"** She says, summoning a blade of her own, glowing yellow as if a bolt of lightning.

 **"You have to kill me."**

* * *

 _Rotation 14_

 _Gaster 13 kept Frisk alive for a few months, before he finally died. I can't tell how, he did the same menial tasks, feeding, giving water, and monitoring. I believe Frisk's body just gives up if held in this state for too long. That's fine. I've gathered all of the notes from the other thirteen Gasters, and compiled them into a single journal. I will dedicate as much time as possible to coming up with a potential solution to our problem, while keeping Frisk alive as long as possible, without having him wake up._

 _Anything else I discover I will put into a later note._


	15. The God of Nothing

Undertale: The Machine  
Chapter 15  
The God of Nothing

"Kill you?! Things like this are exactly what I wanted to prevent!" Frisk pleads, standing upon a celestial platform suspended miles above the Earth below, Alphys standing before him.

 **"If this world were to end, if you were to die at any points during this world's conception, my false infinity would be absorbed into you, and follow you into the waking world you come from. If that happens, Gaster will rip it from you, and leave you to die. Our world has no value."** She says, drawing her thunderbolt blade as both Alphys and Frisk start falling through the atmosphere!

"AHH! WHAT'S HAPPENING?!"  
 **"Let go Frisk. Accept that this world is nothing but a mockery of what once was."** Alphys says, the sky erupting in a mass of green lasers! One passes by Frisk and it looks to be made of a bunch of 0s and 1s! They wrap Frisk up and before he knows it, he can fly! Nothing makes sense, but he fires towards the surface, noticing that he isn't getting any closer!

 **"Everything down there is fake too, more fake than it was even a few moments ago, Frisk. The old world ceased to exist the instant you got your Determination back from the Amalgamates."**

"I still don't understand anything! I want to go back, I have to tell my friends!"  
 **"You mean Sans? And Undyne? And Whimsun? They too are mere echoes. The only person here with any true power is you, Frisk. No matter how many human souls I absorb here, I will never surpass the capabilities of a true being."** Alphys states. Frisk looks over as her body begins to transform before his eyes! She closes her eyes and her entire body explodes in a sequence of rainbow colored 0s and 1s! Before long, her body reforms, hundreds of times its original size, and her maw leaks divine energy! She's become a glorious dragon, suspended effortlessly in the datascape.

 **"You have to kill me, Frisk. You have to destroy the False Infinity within me, or all will be lost!"** Alphys commands, lunging at Frisk and biting down on him! To Frisk's absolute horror, he's bitten in half, his body fizzling away with electricity and green numbers.

"AH?! HAHA?!" He emotes, unable to comprehend what's going on.  
 **"Resist it, Frisk! This fake body of yours denotes the trueness of your heart! It will know things that even you don't!"** Alphys commands! That line, even amidst the confusion and terror Frisk is feeling, seeing his own lower half disappearing within the draconic mouth of the Godly Alphys, he remembers that from the start, his heart has known things that even he hasn't…

 **"Memories are weak, and often forgotten! This body of yours is FAKE! But Gaster could never fake your soul, he could only weaken it, and steal from it! Your heart is whole now, Frisk!**

 **REMEMBER!"**

Alphys roars with a guttural dragon cry! Frisk's eyes go wide, remembering everything at once!

ASGORE. ASRIEL. TORIEL. SANS… THE SURFACE! WHAT HAPPENED?! WHAT IS HE DOING HERE?!

"GRAAAHHHHH!" Frisk explodes with newfound Determination! His previously dying and executed body returning from nothing as the datascape around him begins to look familiar. Finally, his body and his heart are becoming one, but he's not whole yet. He looks down at the blood red sword Alphys handed to him.

 **"Only by merging with your soul once more can you rip this Infinity from my heart! Frisk, you cannot hold back, all of your friends… even me… we're all counting on you on the other side! You cannot let Gaster have his way, or all of your sacrifices- all of our sacrifices will be for nothing! NOW FIGHT ME!"** She cries, her rainbow-colored wings blaring with godly energy, charging at Frisk, who effortlessly blocks her gargantuan maw with his red blade! A million things are running through his mind, as if his memories are being downloaded into it from his own soul! Alphys' mouth opens to show the phantom of her former self lunging out of it, carrying the lightning sword! Frisk grunts and does battle with the phantasmal Alphys! Every strike to his body blasts his limbs to nothing, but through sheer willpower they return!

This world is fake, therefore everything within it is fake! Every attack, every wound, it's all fake! Knowing this, his soul will do the rest…

 **"Frisk, you're doing good! Keep fighting, bring out the trueness of your Determination! I will put everything into my attacks, and once you reach full power, and I exhaust mine, you can rip this foul fate from my chest! Only then can you return to your world safely! If you wish to save your friends, including Alphys, then you must kill me- this FAKE Alphys!"** The God of Nothingness yells out, their attacks increasing in severity! Soon hundreds of building sized dragons are charging Frisk down, but time seems to stop as he finds an impossible way to counter every attack at once without even blinking! Frisk lunges forward and grabs the lighting blade Alphys drew from her phantasm and crushes it in an explosion of raw data!

Frisk lets out a war cry and slashes down so hard that the very fabric of this false reality is blown to pieces, slicing open what could only be perceived as a black hole, dozens of the Infinity Dragons being sucked into it!

 **"YES FRISK, REMEMBER! STAY DETERMINED!"** Alphys begs, launching a barrage of reality warping attacks at Frisk from the various rainbow dragons! Frisk's body is obliterated and reconstituted from one instant to the next, yet his soul shines gloriously, as if it's growing from this battle! Frisk's body reforms again and again, before his body is nothing but pure data! The blood red blade handed to him by Alphys also begins to glow.

"Why does this blade react to me so well? How is it destroying you…?"  
 **"I designed it specifically for use by someone with true Determination. Everything in this world, including that weapon, would be powerless if used by anyone but you, Frisk. With your strength, as well as your mercy, can this world finally break from its cycle of suffering!"** Alphys explains, attacking Frisk again and again, each of the dragons being blown to pieces one by one.

 **"This fake world made with your true memories, memories from times long forgotten, creating a shell that serves only as a receptacle for a False Infinity, all of our suffering, real suffering in a fake world, seeking only to give Gaster what he needs! You need to stop him, Frisk! You're the only one who can! Never forget that!"** She yells, putting all of the draconic energy into one final lightning bolt attack! It grinds against Frisk's red sword, but as she predicted, and as she hoped, he turns that attack of world defying magnitude against her with a single show of effort! Her entire being collapses in on itself like a dying star!

Within the center of the tempest of energy, a single heart remains, shining gloriously with every color of the rainbow. Frisk girds his hand on his blade, as Alphys speaks one last time from the soul in front of him.

 **"Frisk… this is it. Destroy the soul, hew the Infinity in twain, and Gaster will not be able to utilize it! When you wake up, jump to your feet, do not give him a chance to react! This pained world will end so that your world may yet know happiness! Do it, and save us all!"** Alphys yells into Frisk's soul! Frisk nods, and slashes down with DETERMINATION!

The heart explodes with a massive show of energy, lights crawling out in every direction, piercing the nothingness as the numbers, the 0s and 1s, fall from everywhere and into Frisk's heart! Alphys's heart, shattered into pieces, fades into the various scraps absorbed into his chest. He closes his eyes as this world goes black.

"Sans… Queen Undyne… Whimsun… I hope this is enough." He says, silently praying for ghosts, or perhaps less than that. He opens his eyes to see himself on an operating table. He has little time.

* * *

 _Rotation 15_

 _This is amazing. Gaster 14 came up with an idea for a use for Frisk, a REAL use. After fiddling with the machine, and researching all the notes we gathered on Determination, we have a hypothetical solution. Using the machine, we can alter this save point to send Frisk into an alternate reality, one that we alter in any way. It will be a fake reality, but all based off of Frisk's memories. We can rip the memories from Frisk, and alter them in any way we see fit. However, this comes with a problem._

 _If we create a world and put Frisk in it, if he were to die, or reach the "end" of that world, he would just appear back on the table, right? And during his time in the fake world, time here would essentially... shut down. We won't be able to take notes. It will be literally impossible to check the results in real time, it will be up to the NEXT Gaster to check the machine and see what went right, or wrong._

 _To what end, I do not know. I am going to induce a new world for Frisk. I will be the first Gaster to do this. I will alter the nature of this save point and send Frisk into an alternate reality. Once Frisk dies or reaches the end, his save point's data will go back to normal, and he will end up here. At least, in theory. Here goes nothing._


	16. Gaster: Spinner of the Wheel

Undertale: The Machine  
Chapter 16  
Gaster: Spinner of the Wheel

Frisk jumps up from the table he's on only to crumble immediately onto the floor below! His body is weak, malnourished and atrophied. In fact he heard a few bones snap upon hitting the floor… he coughs up a small amount of blood and musters his strength into a pushup before shakily rising to his feet. He looks around, lights blinding his vision.

"Looks like I was right." An empty voice lets out from across the room! Frisk squints, before noticing he's in some sort of containment cell, the walls around him are slanted and give way to an upper platform below. He makes out a faint shape, but the lights make it impossible to see.

"Are you Gaster? I've come back from your machine. Your Infinity is broken, you will never have it!" Frisk yells in defiance, knowing that his body is so weak that he could never REALLY fight, especially with this terrain disadvantage, but he takes solace in the fact that Gaster will not claim the false infinity from that realm of suffering.

"Another failure? I'll add it to the list." Gaster says dismissively. Frisk picks up that tone as if it were logged away for study.

"Another?! What do you mean?"  
"I'm sure you and I have gone through this song and dance dozens of times already, Frisk. But the truth is, this is the first time that **you** or **I** have met." Gaster explains with a strange emphasis, walking around the upper platform, still showed by the light blinding Frisk down below. Frisk shields his eyes and growls.

"First… time? That's not possible, how would you know to do any of this- hell, how did you send me into the machine if this is the first time we've met?!"

"Frisk, it's a shame that you don't understand your own powers of Determination. Surely you don't think that I would be able to maintain my position in the multiverse should you do anything resembling saving and loading?" Gaster asks rhetorically. Frisk frowns and nods.

"Okay, then how? How did you put me into the machine, if I would wake up in a world you don't remember?"  
"Because in order to hunt my prey, I need to understand it." He says, Frisk barely able to make out a bony smile. The lights turn off and Frisk can finally look around comfortably. He's in a mechanical pit with lasers, guns, and various other weapons and technology just out of reach; pointing at him.

"I may not be able to affect other timelines, Frisk, the various ones you create, destroy, and leave behind, but I can analyze them, which means I can analyze myself. It all started a year ago, after the monsters ascended to the surface. My device hummed to life the instant the barrier vanished, and I got dozens of messages from myself in timelines that you dropped. Messages of failure and progress, myself hunting you across time and space." He explains to Frisk, now able to fully look at Gaster.

"I got codes, suggestions, ideas, and ideas that didn't work, all leading to my last rotation… I got the perfect specifications for putting you into a false universe utilizing nothing but your own Determination so that you can give me what I want, and come out of it perfectly fine… here… at your save point."

"What…?! This is my save point? But… why would I ever save here?!"  
"This was merely a house, for the longest time. I bought it out and renovated it as soon as you freed the underground, knowing that this would one day be Toriel's house. In this universe, you never moved here with Toriel, but your save points have been altered in such a way that you will wake up here EVERY time!" Gaster explains, Frisk's eyes fire wide! He tries to back away, but his leg gives way and he falls to the floor, still weak from malnutrition…

"Don't you see, Frisk? I've been doing this to you for over twenty-four rotations now, twenty four years, each time you wake up with no memory, which is fine because I don't have any personal memory of it either! We're stuck in a loop of first acquaintances that always ends with me getting a LITTLE closer to my goal than my previous iteration… so you destroyed the Infinity from within? That's fine, the next dive you do will be to a universe where you will have no choice but to take it, I'll make sure of that."

"WHY?! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?!" Frisk pleads for an answer!  
"Quiet, whelp! I do this because of the fabled human philosophy before me: Because I can!" Gaster yells, his bony claws clapping over the iron bars safely separating him from Frisk on the second floor!

"Because you can?! What kind of half assed motivation-"  
"Because only with the Infinity can I alter the core Determination of this planet! I will send us back to the first war, and I will alter it in a way where monster kind wins! We will take back the surface, exile humanity, and the world will know true peace, and more importantly, prosperity! We don't need as much water as humans, as much food, and we rarely ever fight, let alone wage war on another!" Gaster preaches!

"Beacons of science, space travel, unlocking the mysteries of the universe! I will get a thousand-year head start on it by shooting us back to the old days, and executing the vile humans that dared to deny us our rightful place on Earth! All YOU need to do, Frisk, IS STOP RESISTING!" He yells, pushing a button as one of the machines above stab Frisk in the arm and inject a liquid into him!

"WHAT THE- Ngh…!" Frisk says, his mind going fuzzy and his heart slowing down.  
"Go to sleep, Frisk. Lose your memories. The real test begins soon."

* * *

 **(Hours later…)**

"Heart rate… minimal…"  
 **Beep  
** "I'm sure this is familiar to some side of your heart, Frisk… but I've altered the aspect of the machine ever so slightly…"  
 **Beep  
** "You WILL give me what I want this time…"  
 **Beep  
** "If not, there's always attempt twenty-five. Goodbye, human. We will meet again soon."

* * *

 _Rotation 16_

 ** _WHAT AN ABSOLUTE NIGHTMARE!_** _As soon as I appeared into this world, so did Frisk! I didn't even have time to check the machine for information! I had no idea what was going on, who Frisk was, or what I was doing here, but I did the first thing that came to mind and shut him up by throwing a syringe with a knockout drug into his chest. I went back to check the machine to find all of these notes. Gaster 15 was wrong about a LOT of things, I am livid!_

 _Okay, first thing's first, what went wrong. I'm looking at the machine. Frisk entered an alternate reality for exactly 1 second. ONE. SECOND. Then he re-emerged. Not only re-emerged, but he woke up! He was sickly and atrophied from before my time, but still._

 _Okay, I had time to cool off, I think I figured out the problem. Frisk's Determination kept him able to reset. When resetting in a fake world, it simply sent him back here to the real world to his save point. I need to remove pieces of his Determination and put them somewhere else, or else he will just instantly wake up. Let me try doing what Gaster 15 did except with less presumptions._


	17. Cyclebreaker

Undertale: The Machine  
Chapter 17 **  
**Cyclebreaker

Frisk lies upon a bed of golden flowers, their eyes open, but their body still. Their heart isn't beating… How did this happen? Frisk's soul lies in pieces upon the ground. However, to Frisk's own amazement, he looks over to the heart on the ground. Is that his…? How is he alive if his own soul is destroyed? He rises to his feet before feeling like a phantom is overtaking him, his body turns fuzzy and his mind swims from sensory overload! He falls to his knees and begins to cough.

"Where… where am I?" Frisk asks himself, crawling along the purple ground beneath him. This place appears familiar… as it has dozens of times before. The cycle has started over again, and Frisk once again has no memory of any of it. However… someone else does.

From behind Frisk, his shattered soul puts itself back together temporarily. Frisk looks back, barely able to stand, as someone else stands over him, holding the soul.

"Greetings, Frisk." A human child not much unlike Frisk lets out, wearing a green shirt with a cream stripe, with an innocent yet devious smile.

"Who… are you?"  
"This whole amnesia thing is getting a tad overplayed, don't you think?"  
"I don't… know what you're talking about."  
"Damn… Gaster really did a number on you this time." The child says, kneeling down and helping Frisk stand up.  
"You know my name… what is yours…?" Frisk asks. The kid looks over as they help him stand up.  
"My name is Chara. A long time ago we were partners, now we're suffering an infinite cycle."  
"Suffering… cycle?"  
"Come on, walk with me. I'll explain on the way." Chara suggests, helping Frisk walk by giving them a shoulder to lean on. They make gradual progress through the Ruins.

"Thank… you." Frisk says, weak. Chara looks over with a neutral expression.  
"How uh… how are you holding up?"  
"What do you mean…?"  
"I mean you don't have a soul." Chara reiterates, holding Frisk's shattered heart. Frisk looks at it and frowns.

"I don't know… I don't know what's going on."  
"It'll come to you, in time. It always does, partner. For now, focus on regaining your strength. I'll do the hard stuff." Chara says. Frisk nods and closes his eyes. They both walk through dusty puzzles and carefully step over traps. Frisk looks around, everything looks a tad familiar, but something is wrong.

"Chara… something is wrong."  
"What do you mean?"  
"My… my chest… I… I can… feel something. Something far away."  
"Far away? What do you mean?"  
"Miles away, I can hear what sounds like… my heart."  
"But it's right here." Chara reconfirms, showing Frisk the shattered remains.  
"…" Frisk says nothing, the logic of the shattered soul reaching them. Chara stops and puts a finger to their chin.

"If you're feeling something, then that means it must be true."  
"Huh? How do you figure?"  
"Because it's never not been true so far, no matter how farfetched. If you hear your soul, that can only mean that your soul is out there." Chara looks over to Frisk, who looks back at the red shards in their hands.

"Then what's that?"  
"The easiest answer is that this isn't your soul. It has to be something else. Or maybe this was your soul, and the thing you hear is something else."  
"This is confusing."  
"I suggested just relaxing for a while, so we can get through this. Come on." Chara takes Frisk's hand and helps him through the Ruins, now that he's strong enough to walk on his own. They pass by piles of leaves, and piles of dust, before arriving at something that gives Frisk pause.

"Wait, I remember this place-"  
"Of course you do, this is Toriel's house." Chara says.  
"Toriel…? But-"  
"This is another fake world, Frisk. Created by Gaster. You lost your memory, this is probably another world where Toriel was killed." Chara says matter-of-factly. Frisk frowns, this hurts… a lot. Chara sighs.

"I'm sorry. I'll give you some time to catch up."  
"Thank you…" Frisk says, sitting at the base of the tree outside of Toriel's house. Chara sits on the opposite side of the tree.

"How many times has this happened?" Frisk asks.  
"What do you mean?"  
"This amnesia thing… these worlds… you seem to know what's going on."  
"Honestly, I don't know. Usually I lose my memories too, but this time… I didn't. I don't know why. Gaster said about twenty-four times, but knowing the fickle nature of dimensional alteration and time travel, it could easily be infinity, or zero." Chara muses.

"You used to get amnesia too? But now you remember? What do you remember?"  
"I remember what happened last rotation. Sans… Undyne… Alphys… then finally Gaster. At the end of it, our resistance was futile. We broke out, shattered the infinity, but he just sent us back in. Here we are." Chara explains. Frisk sighs.

"Will we be trapped like this forever?"  
"No." Chara says suddenly, causing Frisk to look back.  
"How do you know?"  
"Because Gaster wants something from us. He will keep resetting the world until he steals it, or until we give it to him, or until we stop him."  
"How can we stop him?"  
"To be honest, I don't know." Chara frowns, before explaining further-  
"As soon as you leave this world, you'll be back on the surface at your save point twenty-four rotations ago, in a world so heavily modified by Gaster's future knowledge that what was once Toriel's new home ends up becoming some sort of scientific dungeon, where you have no chance of survival." Chara says sadly. Frisk looks back however.

"What about you?"  
"I'm not there. I'm not in your soul anymore, because reaching the surface requires… hah… let's just say a sequence of events that renders my being there obsolete. If you ever wake up, you'll be on your own. These memories I have about you waking up… I don't know where they came from. I don't remember the other twenty-three rotations, after all. Maybe I'm wrong." Chara says, looking back at Toriel's house.

"But if I have memories now, then maybe there's something to this. Your far away sounding soul, my memories, our hopeless situation… maybe this is the last time we'll ever have to go through this. We can break the cycle, Frisk. You and I."

* * *

 _Rotation 17_

 _Frisk woke up again, except this time the machine automatically activated itself and spoke to me in my own voice. I think it was Gaster 16, he put an automatically activating message on the machine. It told me how to deal with Frisk. Apparently he CAN'T reset until he touches his save point, which is near us, not him. He spawns into a pit down there, and he can't get up no matter how hard he tries._

 _It's funny, I had a lot of fun taunting him. He doesn't remember me, I don't remember him. It's strange. I shoved a syringe into his chest either way, he can't fight me no matter how hard he tries. Anyway, I checked the machine. He went through the fake world with amnesia rather easily, it was just a copy of his old journey, the one he's probably done hundreds of times already. After he reaches the end, he wakes up here. However, the machine picked something up._

 _The machine can't alter Determination, or replicate it, it can only sense it. But that's the thing, it sensed some sort of... INFINITE Determination. Near the end of Frisk's fake world, the Monster Prince Asriel came to life and shattered the fake Barrier. It was in that moment that within him was... was... was-_

 _I don't know how else to explain it. It's like... infinity. If only I could get it... but how can I make use of a fake infinity? It's a fake world, everything in there is useless. Except... when Frisk woke up, he seemed to have memories of the world he was in, the fake one. He remembered Asriel, Alphys, Asgore, everyone. He retains his memories when he wakes up._

 _What if he can retain an infinity? Even a fake one?_


	18. Best Friends Forever

Undertale: The Machine  
Chapter 18  
Best Friends Forever

Frisk and Chara enter Toriel's house. To Chara, this place looks… much different than their last rotation. In fact, it looks exactly the same as it started off as. The house is clean and immaculate, everything's untouched.

"I wonder how far back we are this time." Chara asks themselves, prompting a response from Frisk.  
"Huh? Far back?"  
"Last time we were here, this world was ten years older, but we met someone along the line that told us that. This time, we didn't find ANYONE. I don't know what year it is, nor do I understand the backstory of this specific world. Come on, let's go." Chara beckons, leading Frisk down into the basement. They pass by a stone archway and walk down a single narrow pathway. They reach a small patch of Earth and Chara begins to move forward to open the door beyond, but Frisk feels something weird.

"Chara, wait."  
"Huh? What for?" They ask. Frisk and Chara merely eye the dirt. Is there something special about it? However, before long, something pops up.

"Howdy! I'm Flowey! Flowey the… …flower…?" The yellow flower calling itself Flowey lets out, before pausing, looking back and forth between Frisk and Chara.

"No… way…!" Flowey says to himself, still looking back and forth.  
"Asriel…?" Chara asks, kneeling down to Flowey.  
"Chara, there's no way…! What's… going on?!" Flowey blubbers.  
"Asriel, I need you to focus. How long has Frisk been gone?"  
"Frisk?! There was no Frisk! It was you, you told me in the Ruins! We were gonna erase all these memories, show them what humanity was really like, but you held back- WHY?!" Flowey growls, slapping Chara's hands away with a bullet.

"How long?!" Chara snaps! Flowey furrows his brow.  
"Almost fifty years…" Flowey answers. Chara sighs. Frisk looks confused.

"Fifty years? Fifty years from what?" Frisk asks. Chara looks back at him.  
"From whatever world you left behind, according to Gaster's Machine." Chara explains, but Flowey begins to seethe with rage!

"YOU LEFT ME AND DIDN'T RESET FOR FIFTY YEARS, WHERE WERE YOU?!"  
"It's just like last time…" Chara muses, closing their eyes and frowning. Flowey growls again and waves around like an angry weed.

"Don't ignore me! What the hell is going on?!"  
"Asriel. This world isn't real."  
"I know that!"  
"No, I mean it's REALLY not real. We're inside of a simulation." Chara continues to explain. Flowey goes silent.  
"W-What do you mean? Simulation? But I've waited for you for fifty years! You still had control of the timeline! I can't save or load!" Flowey bleats. Chara stands back up and crosses their arms.

"Asriel, it would help us if you told us a few things. For starters, how many monsters were killed by Frisk this time? The entirety of the Ruins are empty, instead of just MOSTLY empty like last time. Who rules the Underground?"

"IS THIS SOME KIND OF JOKE?!" Flowey yells, burrowing underground, but not without saying one last thing-  
"THIS IS A TRICK, I WON'T LET YOU TAKE ME! GO AWAY!"

Chara sighs, but Frisk looks like he has a headache.  
"What's… going on?" Frisk asks. Chara shakes their head.  
"He'll come around. Come on, we have work to do."

* * *

Frisk and Chara open the great door and walk into Snowdin. Frisk looks around, and Chara looks back at his face, seeing that he's slowly remembering everything. It makes them a bit sad. Frisk is a good kid, yet their position in the sequence of events have placed them in a state of always suffering for everyone else's gain: This was even before Gaster got his hand on them.

Much like the Ruins, Snowdin is also completely silent, no monsters in sight. That is however, until they come across a sentry station and notice that it's being manned by someone familiar. Chara looks over as the person looks over by them.

"Kid?"  
"Sans?" Chara blurts out. The person called Sans leaves their station and approaches the two humans.  
"Two? Kid, you brought a friend?" Sans asks Frisk, who stays silent, still trying to figure out what's going on.

"It's a long story, Sans. But we're back. No hard feelings or anything?" Chara asks, but Sans merely diverts his eyes.

"Hehe… look, kids…" Sans says, somberly, putting his hands in his coat pockets.  
"It's been a long time, half a century, at least by the calendar we've been keeping. But the Kid still looks like… well, a kid. What gives?" Sans asks.

"We didn't wait that fifty years, Sans. We came here directly." Chara explains.  
"Ah. So, right after Asgore bit the dust… you two came here?" Sans asks.  
"More or less."  
"Huh. How convenient for you. Come to see how things ended up? I thought I left a message for you."  
"Message?"  
"Yeah, on the phone. Didn't you get it?" Sans asks. Chara looks over at Frisk who shrugs. They both pat their pockets and shake their heads.

"No, and I don't think we have our phone either."  
"Huh." Sans says, with a thousand-yard stare in his eye. He turns around and begins to walk away.  
"Sans? Where are you going?" Frisk asks, a tickle of a memory returning to him.  
"I just gotta do some thinking. I gotta say, I never saw this coming. I'll catch up near Waterfall, 'kay?" Sans says before disappearing behind a snowy landscape.

* * *

 _Rotation 18_

 _Much like Gaster 17, I had a lot of fun tormenting Frisk. But, moving on..._

 _Gaster 17's experiment at the end of his cycle was sending Frisk into a world where, instead of Asriel absorbing the equivalent seven human souls, it was Asgore. Frisk died however, as Asgore took his soul and absorbed it. For a split second, there was an Infinity, but it only existed for a moment, and Frisk couldn't touch it._

 _I read 17's notes on the Infinity. If we could claim the Infinity from Frisk, we could somehow use it on his save point... and then WE could use his Determination to load as far back as we can remember. My earliest memory was as a wee lad. I lived on the surface... humans and monsters lived in peace, the war had not yet started. If I could claim this Infinity from Frisk..._

 _Bah, first we need to somehow get Frisk to GET the Infinity. From these notes, it appears that it only ever appears once a monster absorbs the equivalent of seven human souls. Asriel could do it because, as Flowey, he could absorb both monster souls AND human souls, allowing him to make up the difference. However, that requires Frisk's intervention. We need to find a way to spawn an Infinity WITHOUT Frisk knowing about it, so that he can just absorb it later. We need to find a way to get the world to end while both he, and the holder of the Infinity are alive. Because then, Frisk would naturally absorb the fake world into himself when he wakes up._

 _If the Infinity is within Frisk's chest when he wakes up, all I'll need to do is cut it out, and then... haha, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Let's keep testing this._


	19. Fallen Children

Undertale: The Machine  
Chapter 19  
Fallen Children

Chara and Frisk begin walking along the serene, quiet landscape of Snowdin. They make good progress before Frisk ends up lagging behind. Chara looks back to see Frisk looking at what looks like a destroyed machine. Chara walks back to him and puts their hand on his shoulder.

"How many times…?" Frisk asks.  
"Huh?"  
"How many times have I seen this world?"  
"Well, Gaster reset everything about twenty-four times now."  
"What about before then?"  
"What do you mean?" Chara asks. Frisk shakes Chara's hand off and looks them in the eye.  
"HOW MANY TIMES WAS THIS WORLD RESET EVEN BEFORE GASTER?! HOW MUCH AM I BEING FORCED TO FORGET?!" Frisk suddenly yells at the top of his lungs! Chara backs away slightly, somewhat shocked.

"I…"  
"HOW MANY TIMES?!"  
"I DON'T KNOW, OKAY?! IT COULD BE HUNDREDS, THOUSANDS!" Chara finally yells back.

For a while they both stand in the cold climate before a chill blows by. Neither of them react much, but Frisk eventually shivers. Chara sighs.

"Mulling over it won't help. Let's keep going."  
"I don't want to." Frisk denies, catching Chara off guard.  
"Wh-What? What else are you going to do? Sit here in the cold and freeze?"  
"I don't want to be a bystander to my own life anymore, controlled by people stronger or more knowledgeable than me! Maybe I'll just stop fighting it and live here?" Frisk suggests, looking down a nearby cliff to see a forest below.

"Are you serious?"  
"Do you have a better idea? Other than reaching the end of our millionth rotation to attempt to find a goal that might not exist, I mean." Frisk snaps. Chara snarls.  
"Where is this coming from, Frisk? What is this hostility?"  
"Who ARE you, Chara?!" Frisk yells!

"…" Chara says nothing and turns away before walking.

"H-Hey! Where are you going?" Frisk asks. Chara says nothing and disappears behind the snowy landscape. Another chill blows by and causes Frisk to rub himself to keep warm.

* * *

"Who am I, huh? Ungrateful little…" Chara fusses, kicking snow and walking with hands in their pockets.  
"Frisk is arguably the least important piece of this puzzle right now. I could just reach the end on my own and get answers. Frisk'll be fine on his own for a while." Chara says to themselves before moving on, passing by broken puzzles and piles of snow.

"Who am I… what a joke. I'm the person trying to save your life." Chara grows, before the anger fades and they sniffle.

"God damn it Frisk… why did you have to do that?" Chara says, wiping their eyes.  
"I can't be feeling like this. I have to be strong, that way at least one of us will be." Chara continues onwards before reaching Snowdin Town.

Most of the buildings are collapsed from snow damage, wooden planks are rotten, and the town is completely abandoned. However, one house appears to still be standing at the very end. Sans and Papyrus's house. In front of it is the familiar skeleton himself, Sans.

"Hey."  
"Hey." They say to each other.  
"…" For a while, they just stand and dart their eyes in random directions.  
"So… where's the other kid?"  
"We uh. Had a fight. I'm letting him cool off."  
"Heh… cool off." Sans says, kicking snow.  
"Knock it off." Chara groans.

"So, who are you, kid?" Sans asks suddenly.  
"Does it matter?"  
"I should think it does. If Frisk really was just whisked forward in time after Asgore died, then what are you doing with him?" Sans asks with empty, black eyes. Chara furrows their brow.

"You don't trust me."  
"I don't."  
"You should be careful about where you place your aggression, Sans. I've beaten you more than my fair share."  
 **"… Hehe… Kid, you're some kind of freak, aren't you?"**  
"I'm here to help Frisk break this cycle. Nothing more, nothing less. We're partners, he and I."  
 **"Then why weren't you with Frisk when he killed Asgore?"**  
"I was." Chara says cryptically, crossing their arms, and looking directly into Sans' eye sockets. Sans laughs and goes back to normal.

"Heh… what are you, some kind of guardian angel?"  
"I prefer Demon myself."  
"That sure is comforting."  
"I didn't come all this way to comfort you, Sans. I came to stop Gaster."  
 **"…!"** That name perks Sans up, and Chara smiles.  
"Now I have your attention…"

* * *

"Chara? Charaaaa! I'm sorry! Please come back! I… I don't know where I'm going- OOF!" Frisk says, tripping over a rock and face planting into a snow poff. Frisk raises his shivering head to see something just off the side of his vision.

"H-Hello? Chara? Is that you?" Frisk asks. The vision buries itself underground and reappears near his face.  
"Oh… Flowey. What are you doing here?" Frisk asks. For a while, all they do is look at each other. Flowey being extra quiet.  
"Is… something wrong?" Frisk asks, standing up and brushing the snow off their clothes.  
"Do… you really not remember a thing?" Flowey asks. Frisk merely shakes his head. Flowey Frowns.

"So… that thing about being best friends… about erasing these memories… it was all fake?"  
"Well… I wouldn't say fake, I just don't remember it."  
"Right… right… say, what if I told you I know a way to give this sad little world a happy ending?"

* * *

 _Rotation 19_

 _We've apparently kept Frisk in this rotation for a while now. He deserves it for tampering with the timeline so flippantly and locking our future within an infinite cycle. I've considered my options from the other Gasters. If we gained access to the Infinity, then we could go far enough back in time through our memories to alter the monster/human war. Alternatively, simply stealing Frisk's Determination would allow this world to continue without time loops. That also has its share of benefits, simply letting the world go on._

 _Frisk woke up from the last simulation we ran him through, and as the other Gasters noted, he retained no memory of us, but instead memories of the fake world he was within. This time at the end of his journey was Queen Toriel, who ascended to the surface after claiming a single human soul about 100 years after Frisk fell before, then descended after claiming 6 human souls. However, Toriel did not shatter the barrier, nor kill Frisk. Instead, she committed suicide, or rather, simply let Frisk kill her. The Infinity within her chest was destroyed by Frisk, which prompted his awakening. When Frisk woke up there were tears in his eyes and he could barely stand. I actually had a chance to communicate with him. We talked for... hours, actually._

 _He hated me for doing that to him, but I didn't care. I told him that I do what I can because I can, when in reality I do what I do because I must. Frisk is dangerous, I can't let him go, or we'll just be spun into another cycle of his making. I take no... **legitimate** joy in doing this to Frisk, but I must say that there is something dark... dark within me that takes extreme pleasure in punishing him for what he's been doing. It's strange, it doesn't seem like my own hate._


	20. Good Intentions

Undertale: The Machine  
Chapter 20  
Good Intentions

Frisk follows the constantly digging and popping Flowey and navigates around the ruins of a town he doesn't recognize, before arriving at a small boat along a river.

"Take this, Frisk. It will lead you to Hotland." Flowey says.  
"What will I do once I get there? How will this give everyone a better ending?"  
"Sans and Chara think way too small. If you really are the same kid, then you should have control of the timestream, right? Even if you don't remember…"

"Time… stream…?"  
"Oh my God. Just, just get in!" Flowey growls. Frisk shrugs and gets in the small boat. It begins to drift slowly on its own. Flowey dips underground.

* * *

Chara and Sans stand within a derelict laboratory behind Sans' old house.

"I stopped using this place after Asgore died. I figured the kid would just reset and come back. Yet fifty years passed, and nothing of the sort happened." Sans thinks out loud to Chara as he throws tarps and trash out of the way of his path. At the end he removes a protective coating from something else.

"What is that?" Chara asks. Sans looks back at them.  
"This is, or was… a time machine."  
"What…? REALLY?!"  
"Yep, it allows me to analyze the time stream."  
"…" Chara's eyes of wonders fade into boredom.  
"What, did you think I could time travel? I didn't say it was a time TRAVEL machine."  
"Right…" Chara says, boorishly. Sans messes around with the device and it begins to hum to life, before sputtering dead. Sans sighs.

"Huh? What's wrong?"  
"I forgot, I hooked this thing up to the Core. With it turned off, my machine won't work."  
"The Core is off? Why? Doesn't it provide electricity to the underground?"  
"It broke some years back, and no one alive knows how to fix it. That's why Snowdin was abandoned, since its prime export: Ice, was no longer in demand to help cool the Core."

"I thought Snowdin was abandoned because everyone was killed." Chara says, thinking. Sans frowns.  
"People can be replaced…" He says sadly.

They both walk out of the room and look around the snowy landscape. Sans darts his eyes around, prompting a response from Chara.

"What's up?"  
"I thought I saw something… like a flower?"  
"Flowey?" Chara asks. Sans looks over with a puzzled expression.  
"Flowey…? Flowery… you mean Papyrus's friend?"  
"...?"

* * *

Frisk drifts down the river slowly. It would be a lot faster if there was someone rowing it or something, but he enjoys the calm. He sighs. Chara will be fine on their own, it's Frisk who doesn't remember, and it's not like they're helping him. He looks at the pretty blue rocks passing by. On the shore, he can occasionally make out Flowey popping up and down to check on him. He waves, but Flowey doesn't respond. Flowey seems to be looking for something, or looking **out** for something.

Frisk's boat stops by a small ledge that leads further into the blue caverns, and Flowey pops up.

"Almost there. Just keep going."  
"Hold on, I want to check this place out." Frisk says, hopping off the boat.  
"What? Why?! You're wasting time!"  
"Geeze, you sound just like Chara! I just want to take a look." Frisk reprimands. Flowey groans and disappears as Frisk walks around.

Frisk looks around, taking note of what appears to be an abandoned shop. As he's inside, he can hear someone speak.

 **"Human… it IS you… I didn't think it possible."** A gentle voice rings in Frisk's head. He turns around, trying to see who is speaking to him.  
"Hello? Who's there?"  
 **"You want to find me, I understand. I evacuated the whole of the King's Road, so that any humans that fall down will have unfettered access to the throne room. Snowdin, Waterfall, Hotland… all of it is evacuated, and its people now living within the city of New Home. If you want to find me, simply follow our good friend, Flowery."** The voice says one final time into Frisk's head.

Frisk leaves the shop with a strange look on his face, one that Flowey notices.

"Frisk? What's up?"  
"I just… heard someone."  
"WHAT?! I MADE SURE WE WEREN'T FOLLOWED!"  
"Relax, Flowey… it was… in my head."  
"Huh? Head? Are you daft?!" Flowey snaps.  
"He said to follow the… King's Road to the throne."  
"… Wait, who said it? What did it sound like?"  
"It was a man… and he sounded very nice and genuine." Frisk says with an unconscious smile. Flowey furrows his brow.

"The King… why does he want to meet you…?" Flowey thinks to himself.  
"Where are you taking me if not to the King?"  
"I was going to take you to that idiot scientist's lab in Hotland, the abandoned one. There's something in there that'll for sure give you your ability to save and load back!"

"Hmm… can I do both?"  
"Sure! Just stop by the lab first, and when we're done, the King's Throne is just a stone's throw away!"  
"Sounds like a plan, let's keep going." Frisk says, hopping back on the nearby boat.

* * *

"Frisk's been gone an awful long time…" Chara says, worried. Sans shakes his head.  
"Maybe I should go looking for him."  
"Would you?" Chara asks. Sans nods.  
"Sure. Be back in a second." Sans says as he walks off towards Waterfall.  
"S-Sans, that's the wrong w-"  
"He's not anywhere in Snowdin." Sans says from behind Chara, who jumps from hearing him! Chara whips their head back and forth, trying to make sense of what just happened.

"B-But you just went to Water-"  
"I think Frisk is in danger."  
"…!"

* * *

 _Rotation 20  
_

 _Frisk is very brittle. The last world I sent him into was one where he killed everyone, everyone except a few monsters in Hotland, then came back a year later. The Royal Scientist, Alphys, killed him upon setting foot in the world. He came back in a cold sweat and spat curses at me not befitting a child of his size. Luckily, neither he or I remember anything about each other. Every time he wakes up, it's the first time we've ever met. If it wasn't for this machine, I would never be ready to understand what I'm hearing or looking at._

 _I began thinking about what some of these previous messages said. Something about Asriel, and Flowey. Flowey exists in the Ruins right now, yes? And if Frisk were to wake up, even with knowledge that Flowey is in the ruins, Frisk would wander the whole planet looking for **Asriel.** Why? Isn't Flowey Asriel? This kid is insane, no wonder he trapped us in a loop. Every single time he dies, or reaches the end of his world, we get a little bit closer to claiming the Infinity. We just need ONE. Once we get it, then we can break this cycle once and for all._

 _But it still vexes me. He goes and wins the lottery every time, which means that he remembers the resets he did, which means he remembers Flowey, but he looks for Asriel, for a whole year, without taking a break. It was so habitual... I must know if there was some meaning to it. What if I create a world where Asriel, or Flowey... simply doesn't exist in that timeline? I will send him back to the Underground, but there will be no Flowey. Yet, someone will have to claim the human souls, someone other than the king, or a standin for the king. If the ruler of the underground dies, then the world ends. That's how Frisk's heart remembers it, and the Machine can only replicate a world based on Frisk's REAL memories._


	21. The King's Road

Undertale: The Machine  
Chapter 21  
The King's Road

Frisk continues down the river as the cool blue stones eventually give way to a more humid, hot environment. Hotland is close. Frisk looks around, seeing that there are no ledges nearby, and as such, Flowey isn't here. He's probably waiting ahead.

 **"Human..."** The voice returns to Frisk's head as the boat slowly makes progress.  
"You again… Flowey told me you're the king. Who are you?"  
 **"You do not remember me? Hmm… I wonder if it's because…"** The voice trails off.  
"Because?"  
 **"I'm sorry. This will be much easier in person."**  
"Okay, we can talk later after I do something with Flowey."  
 **"Flowery… he… he's not that great of a person. I know this now."** The voice says with anguish.  
"Huh?"  
 **"Human- no, your name is Frisk… Frisk, you cannot trust Flowery. If you follow him into Alphys' old lab, you will not return."  
** "But he said it would lead me to a better ending."  
 **"He's lying to you. I'm sorry you do not remember your first adventure here with us, but he's just trying what he tried before, except all he wants to do is get your Determination back, and then kill you to reset this world. He has been unhappy these fifty years…"** The sad voice explains. The boat slows to a crawl as it nears the final stop near Hotland. Flowey pops up from the dirt as the voice says one last thing.

 **"Be careful, Frisk. You must reach me, don't let him fool you."**  
"…" Frisk squints at Flowey.  
"What?" Flowey asks.

* * *

Chara and Sans progress through Waterfall Cavern, looking for any sign of Frisk. They call his name out like a lost dog, but they can't find him anywhere.

"Can't you just do that weird teleport thing and look for him?" Chara suggests.  
"I did, several times, he must be… well, somewhere else."  
"What do you mean 'Somewhere else'?"  
"It must mean he's not currently on the King's Road."  
"King's Road? I can't say I recognize that saying, and I've been around the block a few times." Chara muses. Sans nods.

"It's a new name that the king came up with. Basically, all humans that fall into the ruins can walk in a directly straight line, much like the last time the kid fell, except there will be no monsters or puzzles in the way. Just a straight shot to the throne room. All of the Underground that you remember, that's the King's Road."

"And you think Frisk isn't on it?"  
"He wasn't any of the times I checked, and I can't keep doing that. It takes effort, and I'm kinda pooped."  
"Are there any ways off the King's Road?"  
"Well there's the elevator to New Home, and the Snowdin River, but that's about it. Last I checked, you guys couldn't swim."  
"W-Well…" Chara diverts their eyes. Sans chuckles.  
"We'll find him. He has to still be alive, right? If he died, won't the world just end, or reset or something?"  
"Yeah…" Chara thinks to themselves.

They continue through Waterfall before Chara suddenly starts looking around.  
"Huh? Something up, Kid?"  
"Do you hear that?"  
"Hear what?"  
"It… sounds like a heartbeat. One coming from far away."  
"I don't hear anything." Sans says, worried.  
"Is this what Frisk was talking about? Hearing his soul from far away? Why didn't I hear it until now?"

* * *

At the end of the King's Road stands a single man. He doesn't sit well, as such his throne has been abandoned for a long time. He's kept up Asgore's tradition of planting and tending to the yellow flowers, and they have flourished over the decades, this throne room dotted wall to wall with the resilient plants.

He holds out a small soul from his chest. It beats strongly, and glows red.

 **"It's almost time… isn't it?"** The man says to himself. His face is one of many conflicting emotions. Happiness, Sadness, innocence, and a lifetime of jaded outlooks. He closes his eyesockets and puts the soul back within his chest, and his arms within his royal cloak.

 **"It's been so long, fifty years, huh? Nyeh… heh…"** He tries to laugh to himself.

 **"But it can't end like this. Frisk… Chara… you have to find some way to break this cycle."**

* * *

 _Rotation 21_

 _I must find some way to break this cycle... every time I wake up its with no memory, only the journal and notes of my previous incarnation. Frisk woke up and told me about his trips through the Underground. Apparently, the humans that fell down were... simply adopted by the king and queen. The second monster/human war never happened. Even the first human child who fell, Chara, was present there. They lived underground, happy and content for decades, before Frisk died of old age. Frisk was the eighth human to die. No monster ever absorbed them. Toriel and Asgore also ended up dying of old age, as they never had a child like Asriel, and Queen Undyne was appointed, but she was not wrathful, but protective._

 _To be honest, that world almost seemed... kind of nice. A world where the monarchy discarded their hatred of humanity and lived with several human children as they matured into human adults, learning from each other, telling stories, and living safely and content within the Underground. When Frisk woke up, all he wanted to do was tell me stories. He was shocked that he woke up in a lab, but he wasn't aggressive. In fact, we shared a cup of tea and talked. I went several days with him before putting him to the needle. He couldn't ever reach the save point up here. If he did, it would be over. He is still my prisoner._

 _But we talked. We sat down, and talked like reasonable individuals. He died when he was 70 years old of internal complications, only to wake up here as a child again. He told me about the Underground's culture and how it evolved with the help of the seven humans that fell after Chara, himself being included. Whenever a human would die, they would get a grave, and yellow flowers would grow over it. In his last few years, he tended to those graves with a similarly old Asgore._

 _At the end, when I told him the world was a fake the entire time, he simply looked past me. A thousand yard stare. He didn't speak for hours. He didn't resist the needle._

 _I feel like a criminal._


	22. The Burden of the Royal Scientists

Undertale: The Machine  
Chapter 22  
The Burden of the Royal Scientists

Frisk walks up from the riverside passage to a crossroads. To his right is a broken down looking building, directly ahead of him is an elevator that seems to cross a lava gorge and lead farther into the Underground.

"Over here." Flowey says, near the broken building. Frisk squints however.  
"What? What's wrong?"  
"Flowey, what's in there that can restore my Determination?"  
"We're like… FIVE minutes from you figuring that out on your own, come on!"  
"…" Frisk shakes his head.  
"What? WHAT?!" Flowey bucks wildly to the sides-  
"WHY NOT?!"  
"I know I'm important to you right now, but not in a way that benefits me. You're going to kill me once I get my determination back, aren't you?" Frisk accuses. Flowey furrows his brow.

"Let's say I am. Is that so bad? Even for selfish reasons, you must admit that resetting this world would be for the best. We've had a lot of people die, and then survive in fifty years of hopelessness. Just reset everything, Frisk."

"First, I'm going to meet the king."  
"Why?! What will meeting that bonehead accomplish?!" Flowey growls. Frisk looks ahead towards the elevator and closes his eyes. He faintly hears a heart beating.

"I don't know, it just feels like the right thing to do."  
"You're an idiot! AN IDIOT!" Flowey yells before disappearing underground.

* * *

Sans and Chara make it most of the way through Waterfall, still no sign of Frisk.

"This is freaking weird. Where could he have gone? It's like he fell off of the face of the planet." Chara muses.  
"I don't know, but I think I can look ahead again. See if he's out there."  
"Are you sure you're okay enough for that?"  
"Well it does take a bit out of me, but if it fails, I'll just take a break in New Home. Kid has to find me there eventually if either of you make it that far, right?"

"Sure, Sans. I'll see you after I check out Hotland."  
"See ya, kid." Sans says, walking in a random direction. Chara shrugs with a slight smile.

* * *

Frisk leaves the elevator that he recently took and walks down the singular path before arriving at an area. A few of his memories have returned since being in the Underground, and something tells him that this area shouldn't look like this…

What was once the MTT Hotel is now some sort of spiritual memorial. Frisk walks over to it before stepping on something. He looks down and picks up what looks like a dusty picket sign. On it reads "Asgore was wrong, the angel took everything from us!"

Frisk looks around, seeing dozens, hundreds of these protest signs all outside of a single hallway that leads to what looks like a dark, metal labyrinth. On them all read similar things, such as "Down with the new king!" and "Where is our justice?!"

"He tried his best you know." A voice from behind Frisk says. Frisk quickly turns around to see Sans standing there.

"Oh… you scared me." Frisk says.  
"Sorry. I didn't mean to."  
"Who are you talking about?" Frisk asks, responding to what Sans originally said.  
"My brother, Papyrus." Sans says, walking forward. Frisk follows him as they step on the protest signs and walk down the dusty metal halls.

"Tried his best…?"  
"Yeah. After you- ah, after the events fifty years ago, the underground selected my bro Paps to be their new king, as he was the only person still willing to be a royal guard after the rest were… well… eviscerated. He instated a bunch of new policies, such as the abandoning of the King's Road." Sans explains as they walk through the now deactivated and powerless Core.

"The King's Road… that voice told me about this place, how at the end of it, I can meet him."  
"Huh? What do you mean?" Sans asks, stopping and turning around.  
"It's just, as I traveled with Flowey down the river, a voice spoke into my head a few times. He told me about the King's road, and to meet him."  
"…?" Sans looks deep in thought.  
"Is… something wrong?"  
"No, no. It's just… I didn't know my bro had telepathic powers." Sans says, sort of worried. They continue walking after a short delay.

"Anyway, when everything was happening, I was so sure that my brother was gonna die. But you spared him. You might not remember killing everyone, but that's fine. Chara told me all about it. Even a long time ago, you found it in your heart to spare him. Maybe the rest of the monsters in the Underground weren't as friendly as he was. Regardless of your motivations, I was impressed… and thankful that Papyrus was spared, even as everyone around him was killed. Does that make me a bad person? A selfish person? Maybe, but I don't care." Sans says with a strange smile. Frisk diverts his eyes.

"Chara… I don't understand their motivations." Frisk says.  
"What do you mean?"  
"I lost my memories, and apparently Chara has seen all of this stuff before… why would they want to be with me? Do you think this cycle can be broken?"  
"I don't know kid, this stuff goes a little bit over my head. If only Alphys or Gaster were here."  
"Gaster… that name, Chara said it a bunch before. Did you know him?"  
"Yeah, a long time ago. He created the Core, actually." Sans explains as Frisk and he navigate the powerless Core in the dark. Sans continues as they move along.

"But he went missing one day and never came back. After a while, Alphys took his place as the royal scientist, and helped maintain the Core with the help of the Snowdin residence. Now with Alphys gone, and the King's Road evacuated- Snowdin included, the Core overheated and melted down. It would take someone like Gaster to fix it, and I'm no Gaster."

"He sounds like a brilliant man." Frisk says. Sans looks over with a sad expression in his eyes.  
"Kid, if what Chara said is right, Gaster is the reason you're here."  
"Maybe he has good reasons for what he's doing." Frisk says with a frown.  
"Kid… what are you saying?" Sans asks. Frisk stops in his tracks and Sans turns around. Frisk looks down at his feet in this dimly lit ruin.

"Chara said it's been twenty-four, or twenty-five times now, and each time, Gaster gets a little closer to his goal. But he created this Core, right? Across all timelines, it brings light and energy to the underground. Electricity for people to live comfortable lives even as they live oppressed Underground. Maybe if I stop resisting and just give myself over to Gaster, then he could give you guys a happy ending?" Frisk suggests. Sans looks speechless and puts his hands in his pockets and starts to think for a long time.

In fact, few minutes pass without Sans saying even a single word.

"Sans?"  
"…" Sans shakes his head.  
"This is so messed up. A long time ago, I wondered if the concept of a happy ending was impossible, that even if Asgore got seven souls, it would just destroy all of humanity in the process. Every possible scenario in my head required some kind of massive sacrifice, and even if Gaster is right, that he can use you in some way we don't understand to give monsters a happy ending… it wouldn't be any different than Asgore's plan when he declared a second war on humanity." Sans explains. Frisk looks over and frowns again.

"But if I just give up, then you will all be happy, right? A better world for monsters."  
"But what about humans?"  
"Weren't they the ones who did this to you?"  
"Simply reversing the roles wouldn't be Justice, especially if we're talking about outright killing all of humanity, Kid. If I know Gaster, and I think I do, he would use you, kill you, and then kill every human that has ever existed, and that would be worse than what happened to us. Despite everything that happened to us in the past, we stayed alive, and we were filled with hope!" Sans preaches. Frisk's eyes begin to water.

"I don't know what to do, Sans… I'm so tired, my chest hurts so much… would dying… REALLY be so bad…?"  
"Kid… you're talking about suicide. And not just yourself, but your entire race…"  
"Then… what should I do…?" Frisk asks with tears slowly dripping from his cheeks.  
"Damn it… I don't know. Maybe Paps does, or Flowery, or Chara… hell, I would love to just talk with Gaster myself, maybe we can find a happy ending for everyone."  
"I… I would like that… but I don't think we can. We've been through this song and dance over two dozen times now…"  
"Don't think so much, kid. Here, sit down. Take a break." Sans motions Frisk to sit on a nearby bench, the light of a nearby elevator shaft shining through.

"Just relax for a bit. I'll see about getting this elevator working without power. Chill. We'll think of something." Sans says. Frisk smiles and nods, but he's still filled with doubt.

Frisk is ready to give up, it's just easier…

Sans remembers what it's like to give up…

He won't let Frisk give up.

* * *

 _Rotation 22_

 _The testimony of Gaster 21 haunts me. The vivid recollection of Frisk's world has legitimately given me pause, but we cannot give up. Frisk woke up in my world as well. We are close. In 20's rotation, Frisk COULD have claimed an Infinity if the monsters ever absorbed the human's souls, but since there was no war, there was no reason. They died of old age before Frisk could witness an Infinity being born. We need to... we need to go hard in the opposite direction, but not so hard that he is killed instantly upon entering the Underground._

 _He needs to be hated, there needs to be conflict. What about Sans, or Papyrus? Sans is a wildcard, he always has been from what I can remember. But whenever Frisk goes down, even with zero memory, he never acts within the confines of Genocide. Whatever violence he has within himself is tempered by something else. He wakes up and explores his world, genuinely trying to help people. But then, why would he constantly reset our world every time? There is something wrong with Frisk, something VERY wrong with him. I not only believe, but have actual PROOF that he truly wishes to help people, but in the end, like in our case, all it does is lock us in a fate worse than death._

 _SO WHY?! This child is playing with powers he takes for granted, treating the universe, time and space, and all those he shares a world with like toys, toys he cries when break. And what is this about ASRIEL?! I still don't get it, nothing makes sense. Frisk, what are you? Who are you? Why are you doing this to us?!_

 _21's rotation got us close to an Infinity. It formed outside of the Underground, but Frisk sacrificed himself to the Monarch of the Underground, in this case, it was Sans. He killed himself to give Sans a human soul, and he woke up without claiming the Infinity. This is maddening. We need to find a way to make it so even if Frisk never SEES the Infinity, that if the world ends, he can claim it. These worlds are made up of his memories, so he doesn't need to be aware of it... I'm going to run some tests._


	23. At the End of the Road

Undertale: The Machine  
Chapter 23  
At the End of the Road

Sans uses his monster magic to replace snapped rivets with bones to get it to work temporarily. It hums to life, each of the broken pieces replaced with small magical extensions of himself, and the elevator slowly slides back up the cable. It reaches the top and a few sparks fly out from the stripped cables. Sans looks back at the distressed Frisk, but he at least seems calmer.

"Time to go, Kid. New Home awaits."  
"Sure. I'm coming." Frisk says, standing up before someone from nearby catches their eye and ear.  
"HEY! I found you! Sans, the hell, you said you'd get me if you found Frisk!" Chara says, running from the dark core!  
"I didn't have enough energy for the return trip." Sans says with a shrug, before the elevator almost falls! His eye burns blue and it goes back to where it's supposed to be.  
"Sorry Chara, I sort of have to focus. We can talk at the bottom." Sans says with a bead of sweat. Sans, Frisk, and Chara all get into the elevator.

For a while they simply go down, the barely repaired elevator making little progress. Chara looks over at Frisk.

"I'm sorry I left you." They say.  
"I'm sorry I said what I said." Frisk says.  
"I know." Chara confirms. They all look forward as the elevator finally reaches the bottom and opens. Sans takes a deep breath as all the blue bones holding the elevator together fade away, pieces of metal and dust falling around them. They run out of the Elevator and look back. They definitely aren't using it to get back up, even with Sans' magic.

"So... where'd you go, Frisk?" Chara asks. Frisk looks back.  
"Well, I went looking for you, then Flowey tagged along for a bit, and said that if I went with him, he'd help me find a better ending."  
"Asriel is up to his old shenanigans then. Just ignore him, Frisk. We can finish this without his so called 'help'."  
"Why do you call him Asriel?" Frisk asks. Chara frowns.  
"It's a long story."  
"It's a long road ahead." Frisk points out. Chara and Sans look at the road to New Home.  
"Sure. We can walk and talk." Chara says as they all begin their final trek to the end of the road. They walk past tall buildings, to Chara's amazement, they can actually make out monsters living in them.

"This place seems a lot more populated than I remember." Chara lets out, prompting a response from Sans.  
"The King's Road was abandoned, and all the surviving monsters now live down there, in New Home. We're high up, you see. Almost a full mile down is the real city."  
"Wow, I'd almost completely forgotten that this was a real city." Chara says. Chara looks back at Frisk and continues their initial conversation.

"A... long time ago, I was the first ever human to fall into the Underground. The story of the Undertale talked about me-"  
"And Asriel." Frisk says, as if from memory. Chara nods.  
"That's correct. I came up with the idea to free monsterkind by having Asriel ascend to the surface with my soul, and getting six more. After becoming god, Asriel would return and destroy the barrier, allowing monsters to be free." Chara lets out. Though after a little bit of thought, Frisk shakes his head.

"Wait, you mean you wanted to destroy humanity?"  
"..." Chara sighs and looks to the roof of this cavern.  
"Frisk. I made my choice a long time ago. Oh, I wish I could take it all back, knowing what I know now, but I can't. Destroying Humanity seemed like the easiest solution. Asriel thought otherwise, though. That's how he became Flowey, after Alphys screwed with what she shouldn't have screwed with." Chara says with a strange bite in their voice. They make it to a large building; formerly Asgore's house.

"So, what should I do?" Frisk asks. Chara looks back with a slightly puzzled expression.  
"What do you mean?"  
"I mean... with Gaster. Should... should I just let him have my soul?"  
"..." Chara closes their eyes and frowns.  
"W-Wouldn't that be the same as your choice so long ago?" Frisk asks, comparing this to Chara's idea to claim seven human souls.  
"You and I, for everything you don't remember, and what little I DO remember over these two dozen or so rotations, have resisted Gaster at every turn, for one reason or another. I'd like to think that our resistances and sacrifices would mean something." Chara says, but Frisk shakes his head wildly-

"But how can we even stop what he has?! Every time I wake up, I'll just be sent back in, right? If all he wants to do is destroy humanity to give Monsterkind a better future, is that really so bad?!" Frisk snaps, and Chara merely goes silent.

"Kid." Sans says, breaking his personal silence with his hands in his pockets.  
"We talked about this, you and I."  
"But..."  
"It's alright. We'll think of something. Okay? Chill." Sans suggests. Frisk diverts his eyes. He's frustrated and scared, anyone can see that. They all continue through Asgore's abandoned home and into the basement before crossing along a large walkway that overlooks even more of the monster city of New Home.

"What happened here fifty years ago... I remember it like it was yesterday." Sans says, beckoning the attention of Chara.  
"Sans, you know this entire world is fake, right?"  
"Yeah. Yeah... so, what, the real world, what's it like?"  
"Humans and monsters... living on the surface... in peace." Chara explains. Sans looks back a tad confused.

"Are you sure?"  
"Yeah, why?"  
"Then why would Gaster want to change history if Monsterkind is already safe?" Sans asks.  
"I don't think he cares about monsterkind, at least, not as much as he cares about his own revenge against humanity. I've been down that road before, there's no coming back from it." Chara explains.

"Then how and why are you here?" Sans asks. Chara looks him in the eye with a strangely aggressive expression. They hide it well, but Sans can read their face easily.  
"I'm here to help Frisk."  
"Right." Sans says. That was a lie.

Why did Chara just lie to Sans? Sans knows it was a lie, Frisk doesn't, but Sans can't be lied to, he's an excellent judge of character. All of a sudden, this Chara character just lied to Sans at the end of the road. They're so close to getting some kind of answer, and they lied. Why?

They enter the Final Corridor...

* * *

 _Rotation 23_

 _GASTER 22 IS A GENIUS! I don't know how he did it, but he did. I mean, he failed of course, but he gave me the data I need to FINALLY do my job! Haha, I didn't waste time talking with Frisk, I just jabbed the needle in his heart before he even saw me coming._

 _We were thinking too small before! Gaster 22 knows how to bend Frisk without breaking him, that includes his soul! Frisk's desire to do good and see a happy ending is what we need. We need to send him into a world where everyone was killed by him, but he still maintains his humanity, and those left alive were his closest friends, people who would hesitate to murder him if they saw the truth of his worlds and feelings, that Frisk truly intends to do good. I'm going to send him into one ultimate rotation, one that will cause an Infinity to form JUST outside of his view, and he will reach the end, fight the Queen, and fall into a coma. Once he dies of natural causes, the Infinity will flow into him! It's foolproof! Even if this fails it will only take very minor alterations to reach the zenith!_

 _We are so close, closer, yet closer... is 24 the magic number? Haha... I'm looking forward to how this ends up. Do it Frisk, do what your heart tells you._


	24. That Which Motivates the Dead

Undertale: The Machine  
Chapter 24  
That Which Motivates the Dead

Sans, Frisk, and Chara walk down the sun-lit corridor. This is the place where the sinful would be judged, and journeys would truly reach their end.

"Frisk, you go on ahead." Sans says.  
"Huh? But... Papyrus-"  
"He wouldn't hurt a fly. I just want to talk with Chara for a bit." Sans insist. Chara looks over to him with a furrowed brow.  
"Sans...?" Chara asks.  
"Kid, I don't want you to hear this." Sans says, looking over to Frisk, who merely nods and slowly walks out of earshot.

"What was that about? We're wasting time, we should all be there to support him with King Papyrus!"  
"You're not getting near Frisk, Kid." Sans says with a burning eye. Chara gasps softly, but settles into an angry demeanor.  
"Why not?! Why are you going to stand in my way?!"  
"You lied about what you wanted to accomplish here! You looked me in the eyes and lied to my face! You're not here to help Frisk, why are you here?!"  
"Does it matter?! We're on the same side!" Chara snarls, drawing a knife! Sans bounds backwards and draws a myriad of magical bones, but he's still tired from the elevator.

"Are you going to kill him?"  
"Why would I do that?! That would just send us back into the cycle!"  
"Then what are you doing?!"  
"You don't want to do this, Sans! Lower your attacks!" Chara warns one last time! Chara's red eyes meet Sans' burning blue eye.

"Are you going to destroy Monsterkind if you break this cycle?! Is that it?!" Sans interrogates!  
"Why would I do that?! My parents and brother were monsters, they've been nothing but kind to me!"  
"Then you'll destroy humanity!"  
"Is that all this is to you, Sans? A world of black and white morality? Did you stop to think that there could be something other than genocide?!"  
"Frisk is a nice kid, and I can't help but notice that you're both going after the same soul, the one Paps has. Whose soul is it, I wonder? Yours? His?"  
"Sans, you dont-"  
"No, I get it now. It's BOTH of yours, isn't it?"  
"...!" Chara growls, tightening the grip on their knife!  
"I know it. There's no way Frisk would perform those actions in the past unless someone drove them to it. It was you, wasn't it?!"  
"You mean fifty years ago? NEITHER of us did that, this is a fake reality!"  
"I'm not talking about then, I'm talking about the REAL world! The one where everyone made it to the surface, but before then, I can feel it, you were a real monster, weren't you?" Sans says, speaking from memory about a world that he never saw.

"Sans, get out of my way!"  
"WHAT DO YOU WANT FRISK FOR?!"  
 **"I WANT MY LIFE BACK!"** Chara howls, charging at Sans and slashing wildly! Sans barely has time to dodge Chara's attacks before finding himself able to counterattack with a myriad of magical bones which Chara angrily slashes out of the way!

"Frisk can't go back, we've tried two dozen times! This time, **I'M** taking the soul!"  
"And what about Frisk?!"  
"Frisk is doomed, don't you see?! If he wakes up in Gaster's Lab again, he'll just be sent back into the machine! It'll all start over again and again, except this time I might not have my memory! I don't know how, and I don't know why, but I REMEMBER now! And I'm going to claim that soul and go back!" Chara explains, throwing the knife at Sans who deftly dodges it, but Chara picks up one of the bones and stabs Sans through the chest with it while he's not looking!

"Kid... you give up too easily..." Sans says with a red liquid leaking from his mouth.  
"It didn't have to be this way, Sans. You could have just kept your mouth shut and played your role."  
"Heh... I'm... bad at that."  
"..." Chara almost feels a little bad. They retract the bone and Sans falls to his knees. Chara walks past him and drops the bone to the ground and says one last thing.  
"If Frisk fails, we go back to the cycle. If I fail, we go back to the cycle. I'll never have a chance like this again. I'm going to take it.  
"You're going to regret this... don't say I didn't warn you..." Sans says one final time before collapsing onto the ground of the final corridor.

Chara leaves the hallway and sees Frisk outside of the Throne Room, apparently too nervous to go in alone.

"O-Oh, Chara, there you are. I didn't want to go in there alone. Where's Sans?"  
"He said to go on without him, he had something to do. Let's go, Partner."  
"Sure...! And... Chara?"  
"Hmm?"  
"Thanks for being here for me. I don't think I would have the strength to do this on my own." Frisk says with a big wide genuine smile. Chara merely feigns a smile back. When Frisk isn't looking, Chara frowns.

* * *

 _Rotation 24_

 _I put Frisk into a special kind of alternate reality. He always breaks out early because he either kills himself, or gets killed. Setting the specifications to a world where there aren't very many monsters ahead of him is key, but if he's completely alone, he'll simply kill himself. A waste of time, no time to research, no time to take note of what went right or wrong. Last time we got so close. Gaster 22 was right, and Gaster 23's attempt was very close. The Infinity touched Frisk, it **physically** touched him! We've never gotten this far before, we're so close. I think we only need one rotation now. If you're reading this, then check Frisk when he comes out, he must have the Infinity, or at least a fraction of it on him. Even a fragment should be enough, then this machine of ours will reach its full potential._

 _Last time, we offset Frisk's depression by giving him a companion. We altered the world in such a way that a small monster named Whimsun followed him around. While I originally wished that Undyne would claim the seven human souls, that instead fell to Alphys, who was locked out of the Underground, and unfortunately learned about her situation... as such, the Infinity was lost. It's so strange though, when Frisk woke up, and I sent him back in, I could feel it. The Infinity was **in** him, but I couldn't touch it. I don't know how. It's as if someone inside of his soul took it from him- took it from me!_

 _This time, I'm sending him into a world, similar to the last, except I'm unlocking his soul. Whoever is inside will be kicked out. I will flush Frisk's detestable soul and clean it until it bleeds, then I will place the infinity in the hands of a much easier to manipulate fool at the end of the world. Papyrus... Sans' idiot of a brother will do nicely. My hatred for Frisk has spread even to his friends, who were once my friends. Once I claim this Infinity, I will finally be done with it, I will finally be done with all of it. No more humans, no more Frisk, no more hate._


	25. Wrath of the Bone King

Undertale: The Machine

Chapter 25  
Wrath of the Bone King

Frisk and Chara walk side by side into the throne room. Birds are singing, flowers are blooming. Yellow flowers dot the room from wall to wall. The king, clad in glorious golden armor, sits in the middle of the room, butterflies and pollen wafting through the air around him.

 **"Ah... Frisk. It's good to see you again."** Papyrus lets out. Frisk smiles for the first time in a while and walks forward onto the flowers to meet him halfway. Papyrus stands up, and without thinking about it, he kneels down and they both hug each other. Frisk can't help but begin to cry.

"P-Papyrus... these memories... these adventures... they're tearing me apart... please help me..." Frisk says, beginning to bawl like a child. Papyrus rubs his hair and shakes his head.  
 **"I will do my best, Human. I have long awaited your return."** Papyrus says with a comforting voice. He breaks the hug and stands up, standing over twice as high as Frisk. Chara merely stands in the back of the room, observing him.

 **"You. I know you as well. You are Chara."**  
"W-What?! We never met!" Chara yells out! Frisk rubs his eyes and looks at both of them.  
"Huh? Is... that important?"  
 **"Important, perhaps. Do either of you recognize this?"** Papyrus asks, taking something out of his armor and showing it to both of them. Frisk's eyes go wide!

"Th-That's my soul! I knew you had it!"  
 **"Yes, human. Fifty years ago, I went looking for you, and found this next to the barrier in a pile of ash. The human souls were gone, and so was Asgore, but your soul yet remained."** Papyrus explains further, however to both of their confusion he puts it back in his chest.

"P-Papyrus? Um, can I have it back?"  
 **"A difficult question. Should I give you this soul, it will be taken from you."** Papyrus says. Frisk cocks his head.  
"What are you talking about?" Frisk asks, now somewhat anxious. Papyrus frowns.  
 **"Human... can you follow me to the Barrier? It will all make sense soon."** Papyrus asks.  
"Of course! Let's go!" Frisk says. Him and Papyrus begin to move forward, and Chara motions to follow.  
 **"Not you. Stay here, I will be back shortly."  
** "..." Chara glares at Papyrus. He knows. Frisk looks confused but follows Papyrus anyway. As soon as Frisk walks into the next room, he looks back.  
"Are you coming?"  
 **"I am sorry for this."** Papyrus says, raising a gate of bones to separate himself from Frisk!  
"W-Woah! Hey, put these down, what are you doing?!"  
 **"I will be back shortly. Please don't worry."** Papyrus encourages. It almost works, Frisk almost feels like trusting Papyrus, but he has a bad feeling!  
"N-No! Please, whatever you're thinking about doing, we can think of a way around it!" Frisk begs! Papyrus closes his eyes and walks away.  
"PAPYRUS! STOP!"

* * *

 **"Chara. Can I interest you in a cup of ketchup?"**  
"I... what?"  
 **"Oh, right, only Sans can stomach that stuff. I haven't had another visitor in such a long time."** Papyrus says, standing over his throne.  
"I don't want ketchup. I want you to give Frisk back that soul." Chara says. Papyrus smiles.  
 **"So that you can steal it?"**  
"... So you know."  
 **"I do. I also know that you killed my brother."** Papyrus says with closed eyes.  
"And I assume you don't want me to retake what's mine?"  
 **"To come so far, and give up so easily... why? I just want to know why..."** Papyrus pleads. Chara crosses their arms.  
"This is the only chance I have. Frisk is doomed, and we need to break this cycle somehow. I'm going to take this soul for myself, and use it to load my game from so long ago."  
 **"And where, pray tell, would this save point be located?"  
** "It was right before I ate the buttercups and fell down." Chara explains. Papyrus smiles, but shakes his head.  
 **"It won't work."**  
"HOW THE HELL DO YOU KNOW?!" **  
"Because the Infinity is inside of you."** Papyrus says, pointing at Chara's chest. Chara looks down.  
"What...?"  
 **"I've felt it in you from the moment you landed. The Infinity Gaster is after, it's in your chest somehow. If you return to back then, he will sense it, even from that far back in time. He will hunt you down and kill you in the same way he did Frisk, and then you'll be trapped in another loop."** Papyrus explains.

"What do you know?! You're just a fake king in a fake world! How could you possibly know anything?!"  
 **"Because I became God of this world fifty years ago. I can feel the exact specifications Gaster built this world to. He prepped this world for this exact moment. He felt that there were two beings in Frisk's heart, and broke you two apart, so that the Infinity would fall into his grasp, one way or another. He WANTS you to do this, Chara."** Papyrus explains. Chara begins to growl and shake their fists.

"Then what would you have me do? Pussyfoot my way around certain oblivion? If I get the soul, Gaster will kill me, if Frisk gets the soul, Gaster will kill him! At least my way, I stand a chance! Give me back my soul, and I will be the Cyclebreaker this world needs!"

 **"Have you wondered that perhaps, you and I, have been here before?"  
** "What are you talking about?"  
 **"What if this cycle has been going on for even longer than Gaster knows? What if he's forgotten that he's forgotten?"  
** "You're not making sense!"  
 **"Chara, you have limitless potential within yourself, you will squander it with hasty actions."  
** "ENOUGH TALKING!" Chara yells, drawing their knife with hate in their eyes!  
"I only have ONE SHOT at this, and I won't let you try to talk me down! I will have my life back, and I will **kill** Gaster!"

* * *

Chara lunges at Gaster and strikes down as hard as they can, only to see that underneath his golden armor isn't just one shining soul, but seven!

"You weren't lying...!"  
 **"I won't let you take this away from Frisk. Engarde, human!"** Papyrus yells, drawing a golden bone sword and slashing Chara away, drawing blood that spills to the flowers below!  
"You... you don't look like a god!"  
 **"I have not absorbed these souls, I have merely borrowed them. They help me, and grant me fragments of their power when I need it."  
** "If you don't absorb them, you're not going to stand a chance against me!"Chara roars, taking off at the speed of sound to match Papyrus' speed and strength! Chara makes each hit count, hitting for tens of millions, Papyrus' armor fading to dust with every attack! Frisk on the other side of the room crying his eyes out and slamming against the bones that keep him away from this battle!

"GUYS, STOP! STOP! WE CAN FIND ANOTHER WAY!" Frisk crumbles to his knees and covers his eyes!

"DIE!" Chara says, stabbing towards Papyrus, but he dodges the attack completely, catching Chara off guard.  
 **"My brother taught me some things... even being aware that this world is a fake doesn't do much to quell the flames within my chest."** Papyrus says, before kicking fast and hard, hitting Chara in the stomach and causing them to cough up spit! Chara falls to their knees and Papyrus slashes down, but they have enough energy to roll out of the way back onto their feet! Chara growls and struggles to get their breath back! They hold their knife with one hand and their stomach with the other.

"Y-Y'know... I was starting to enjoy myself... but now you're going to have to make me do this." Chara says.

For a while, Chara does nothing, and Papyrus raises a bonebrow. He moves forward to stab at Chara and he does, except his golden bonesword shatters upon contact with Chara's body!

 **"What the...?!"  
** "Gods of a fake world are below even vermin!" Chara says, punching Papyrus in the chest hard enough to shatter his armor into a hundred pieces! The seven human souls, including Frisk's, fly out of it as Papyrus goes flying into a nearby wall.

"I learned that trick from Frisk last rotation, actually. I remembered what he had to say, do, and think, to fight even a seven souled god like Alphys." Chara says, walking up to Papyrus.

 **"H-Human... you have what you want. But... if you kill me... these monsters will fall into even greater despair."  
** "Do you think I care?"  
 **"I know you do..."**  
"..." Chara says nothing, holding the red soul in their hand. Frisk, who noticed the bones went away, run over to them!

"Chara, don't!" Frisk yells.  
"I'm not going to." Chara grumbles. Frisk runs over to Papyrus and hugs him.  
"What were you thinking?! Why did you lock me out?! I could have stopped this!"  
 **"Nyeh... I didn't want you... to get hurt."  
** "You... bonehead, why are you protecting me? I..." Frisk tries to find the word, but he merely holds onto Papyrus tighter.

For a while, the throne room goes silent.  
"There's a problem." Chara says. Papyrus and Frisk looks over to them. Chara begins to speak again.  
"Nothing's happening. I'm not seeing save points. The world isn't ending." **  
**"Huh? Then, we're not done? We can still find another solution?"  
"DAMN IT FRISK, THIS WAS THE SOLUTION!" Chara yells, stepping forward and slapping him off of Papyrus! Chara grabs Papyrus by the neck and forces him to his feet.  
"WHY ISN'T THIS WORKING, SKELETON MAN?!"  
 **"Nyag...! Maybe... it's because... I never truly... accepted the Infinity."  
** "Oh." Chara says, dropping him to his knees, causing him to cough. Frisk looks over with a red slapped face.  
"Ch-Chara, what are you doing?!" Frisk asks. Chara gets the six remaining human souls and gets them to spin around their own red soul.  
"What Papyrus should have done a long time ago!" Chara yells, shoving each of them into his chest at once! Frisk's eyes go wide and he tries to run after him, but as soon as Papyrus absorbs the last soul, Chara stabs him in the skull with their knife!

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Frisk screeches at the top of his lungs!  
"Game over, Papyrus!"  
 **"Sans..."** Papyrus says with finality as his body fades to dust, the seven human souls once present, now gone and replaced with a single rainbow colored soul. This... Chara remembers this from what Frisk saw last time!

THIS IS THE FALSE INFINITY!

"CHARA, DON'T-" Frisk tries to say as Chara scoops it up without another thought, even their own soul was once a part of multicolored thing. It rests comfortably within Chara, as if it yearned to be there all along.

* * *

 _Rotation 25_

 _Something's wrong._


	26. Infinity

Undertale: The Machine  
Chapter 26  
Infinity

The world flies by Chara's vision, the rainbow-colored soul within their chest beating a million times per second, deafening Chara to the world distorting around them! They close their eyes, cover their ears, and grind their teeth! Soon the world stops moving and they are thrown across the room! Chara hits the wall and collapses to their knees.

Nauseated and with a serious headache, Chara looks around the room before their eyes shoot open!

It worked…!

With a smile, they rise to their feet, but something's wrong. Chara looks around, noticing that not a single person or thing is moving. They are in the throne room, where they ate all of the yellow flowers so long ago in the past. Toriel, Asgore, and Asriel all gather around someone in the center of the room.

"Mom, Dad, Asriel, I'm h-" Chara tries to say before seeing who is in the middle. It's… them! Chara furrows their brow and waves their hand in front of Asgore and Asriel.

"Hello? Anyone?" Chara asks. But time looks like it's frozen… Chara's old body lies upon the floor of the throne room, either dead or dying, and here Chara stands in a timeless snapshot of their own memory. Chara curiously begins to look around, since standing here does no good.

On one hand, Chara succeeded. They are back in time to before Asriel absorbed their soul. However, time is stopped, and they don't know why. Chara begins to wander around New Home before arriving somewhere else.

* * *

"What the?" Chara asks themselves before they realize they're on the surface. Chara looks behind them. A wooden door leads to the Underground, but there's no way that's possible, this isn't right. Chara looks around, noticing they're on some sort of ranch. Blue skies and horses as far as the eye can see, but like New Home, this place too is frozen in time. Chara wanders, noticing that they cannot go anywhere but a straight line, marked by fences. Chara tries to jump the fence, but an invisible force prevents them from moving forward. Chara moves forward regardless. A single child can be seen, frozen in time, tending to the horses, just beyond the child is a great view of Mount Ebott.

The path leads to a ranch house. Just outside of the door inward is a cowboy hat and a gun, glowing with a light gold aura. Chara cocks their head and reaches out to touch them before they explode into light and the door opens on its own.

"This is weird… what is going on?" Chara asks themselves. Getting no answer, they proceed further inward, stepping through the ranch door to a place that similarly doesn't fit. They go from a wooden house to a modern high-tech kitchen. There is a kid here too, flipping what seems to be an egg. Chara passes them to the end of the room, noticing that this is also part of someone's house, but there are obstacles and invisible forces preventing them from wandering. They reach a chrome door and Chara can't open it, to their confusion. They look around and notice a Frying Pan and an Apron lying on a nearby counter, glowing slightly green. Chara touches it and they too explode into light, and the chrome door opens.

Chara steps through it to realize they went from chrome to stone. They look around, noticing they are in a school. They look out the window and notice that here is a good view of Mount Ebott as well.

"Wait… I understand what's going on. These are all the humans that fell after me." Chara says to themselves, holding out their Infinity Soul.  
"After I took the Infinity from Papyrus, I must have somehow absorbed the other humans' memories, no wonder the Load didn't work right!" Chara muses, continuing onwards. The path leads them to a classroom door. Down the hallway is a single child as well, also frozen in time. Chara tries to open the classroom door, but it doesn't work. They look around to notice a notepad and some glasses, glowing slightly purple. They touch it and the door unlocks.

Stepping through the classroom door leads them to what appears to be a dance studio, where no one is present except one child, locked in time. Chara looks around, noticing the floor is made of high quality wood, and a skylight in the studio can see the tip of Mount Ebott in the distance. They reach the glass door that leads to the street and notice a Tutu and some Ballet shoes on the floor. Touching them causes them to explode with blue light, opening the glass door. Stepping through it however plays tricks with Chara's mind as they expect to step into a street, but instead step into another house.

This appears to be an Eastern Dojo of some kind, where a single child punches a training dummy. Time is of course frozen here as well. The path on the black cobblestone floor leads to a nearby window. Chara looks out the window to notice that they can see Ebott far in the distance. They touch a nearby headband on top of glowing orange gloves and the window fires open. Chara jumps out of the window-

And lands in what looks like someone's room in a house. A single child is present here as well, apparently playing alone. Chara looks around to notice a plastic knife and a pretty red bow, both glowing cyan. They touch it and the door to the room opens. Out of curiosity, Chara looks out of the room's window. Lo and behold, Ebott can be perfectly seen.

Chara leaves through the room door before something unexpected happens.

* * *

They arrive at the final world within the Infinity's memories, but it's completely blank. The world around Chara is white and nondescript.

"What the? What is this?"  
"These are your memories, Chara." A familiar but COMPLETELY unexpected voice lets out from behind Chara.  
"WHAT THE…?! FRISK?! What the hell are you doing here?!"  
"There's no time, Chara. Gaster is ahead." Frisk says. There is an incredibly confident expression on Frisk, one Chara has never seen before.

"Bullshit there's no time, I left you back in the throne room! I stole your future, not only shouldn't you be here, you also shouldn't be trying to help me!" Chara yells! Frisk looks back with a placid expression.

"Chara. You think far too small. Linearly. Someone with that soul shouldn't be so constrained with literal fundamentals. Besides, if there's anything you should worry about, it should be why Gaster is here, not me." Frisk says, pointing to the end of the white room.

"If these are my memories? Then why is nothing there?!"  
"Things here yet exist, but buried underneath your new memories. The worlds you traveled through, the comforts of the children who fell and died after you did. All memories of home, memories of what made them happy. Yet… Chara… you have no such memory. As such, your world within this realm of memory and spirit is empty. At least, on the surface. Deep within the Infinity, are your true memories- and Gaster." Frisk explains.

"How do you know these things?"  
"Because I've been here before. Many, many times." Frisk says with closed eyes and a smile.  
"You're not making any sense!"  
"These made no sense to me either, until my heart reminded me of what my mind forgot. Go, Chara. Stop Gaster." Frisk says with a strange tone, before turning around and walking into the white abyss.

"Where are you going?!" Chara yells!  
"I'll be around." Frisk dismisses, before disappearing behind the nothingness.


	27. Battle of the Fallen Ones

Undertale: The Machine  
Chapter 27  
The Battle of the Fallen Ones

Without time to worry about Frisk, Chara runs forward, knife drawn and ready for battle, running deeper into the whiteness of their own memory!

"GASTER! SHOW YOURSELF!" Chara yells out, looking in all directions, this expansive whiteness of their soul appearing impossible to accurately traverse. Before her eyes however is the man himself, approaching out of the whiteness with a confident hubris.

"Ah, it's you, the fallen child, Chara Dreemurr." Gaster says, that last name coming off as disingenuous.  
"Cut the crap, I've come here to break this cycle!" Chara explains, brandishing their knife!  
"Have you? What a coincidence, so have I."  
"Bullshit! You're the one who trapped us in this cycle in the first place!" Chara yells with their red eyes dilated like a predator!

"If that is what you believe, you haven't been paying attention."  
"What did you say?"  
"Enough talk. Words, and time, are both wasted on you. My target is Frisk." Gaster says, his eye sockets glowing and blasters rising from the nothingness around him!

"What the? How did you bring blasters in here, these are my memories!"  
"My machine follows me wherever I go. No matter how many times I lose my memories, no matter how many times Frisk resets this world, it will be at my side. Your childish attempts to break this cycle is no different." Gaster explains, as the blasters ignite, blasting incredibly powerful lasers towards Chara, who surprisingly stands there and takes the full brunt of the attack!

"Hah… weak." Chara taunts, their skin and clothing slightly charred but not worse for the wear! Chara runs forward at breakneck speed and attempts to stab at Gaster, but he raises a force field that Chara crashes into! They fall onto their back and multicolored red and blue hands emerge from the whiteness! Chara does well to avoid them according to their tells before throwing their knife at a Gaster Blaster, putting it out of commission.

"I don't have time for this, Chara. Die or leave, it's of no difference to me." Gaster growls, launching attack after attack towards Chara, giving them little time to retaliate. Without a knife, Chara cannot efficiently defend against these attacks. As if out of instinct, Chara reaches behind them and finds an orange pipe! They whip it forward and destroy a Gaster Blaster in a single hit!

"What the? What did you just do?" Gaster asks.  
"If this is a realm of my "happy" memories, then what few I have are of the Underground. This Hotland pipe should suffice in bashing your skull in!" Chara ghoulishly threatens before running forward! Gaster once against raises a barrier, but as if a barbarian or savage, Chara swings at full strength, shattering it into a hundred pieces, the pieces of magical glass flying towards Gaster, drawing dust from the wounds!

Chara leaps up and attempts to bash Gaster to death in one swoop, but a blaster pushes them away, singeing them and causing them to slide across the ground! Chara throws the pipe at Gaster who barely has time to dodge before reclaiming their knife from the destroyed blaster from earlier.

Gaster growls and summons a myriad of magical bone and fire attacks which Chara gracefully dodges, as if by memory! Chara's free hand summons memories of the Underground, rocks from Waterfall, pipes from Hotland, all thrown as weapons at Gaster who barely has the strength to dodge or summon barriers to defend.

"I outclass you, Gaster. You're not going to beat me. You're going to die here. I feel it, right here." Chara says, motioning towards their Infinity heart.

"Haha… it's strange… I feel the same way." Gaster explains, huffing and sweating.  
"…" Chara pays no mind to the comment and begins to walk forward. Gaster summons a blaster, but Chara effortlessly slashes it in half, causing it to fall to the ground in two equally sized sparking halves. Chara walks up to Gaster and meets his eyes.

They both know he's going to die. Yet strangely… Chara is given pause.

"What's wrong? Aren't you going to finish your job? Killing me and "breaking" this cycle you say I caused?" Gaster asks.

"I've been here before…" Chara squints.  
"What…?"  
"I don't know how or why, but I've seen this before, all of this."  
"That's impossible. We're outside of the Underground, outside of the machine. Neither of us have been here."  
"No, I've been here, and I can prove it." Chara says, taking their knife and pushing Gaster back! He stumbles backwards and Chara slashes down! He flinches, but he's outside of their range! Wondering what Chara is doing, he opens his eyes.

"WHAT…?!" Gaster gasps, noticing that Chara has invoked a memory from this white land. A memory of stabbing Gaster in the skull.

"I've been here… we've both been here… I've killed you more times than I can remember."  
"Th-This is impossible! My notes… the resets…!" Gaster blubbers to himself.  
"We're both being deceived. Something, somewhere is wrong." Chara says as the memory dissipates. Chara extends their hand out at Gaster, who looks confused.

"What are you doing?"  
"I'm not smart enough to figure this out. I know that, and if I've killed you here before, that means being enemies right now isn't going to help anything. Take my hand." Chara explains. Gaster looks at the hand, and back to Chara's eyes before accepting the gesture.

Chara, the fallen Child, dressed in a green shirt and brown shorts, alongside Gaster the Fallen Scientist, dressed in a black suit with a white labcoat, stand aside one another in this white void.

In Chara's mind, there's only one thing they don't understand.

"If it's not you who spins the wheel, Gaster, who is it?"  
"It's Frisk." Gaster says without sentiment. Chara cringes.  
"Damn it… I hoped you wouldn't say that…"  
"It's the truth. I'm only even here because of Frisk's borderline insane actions. I don't understand how you and I have ever been here before, my machine only recorded the previous twenty-four rotations. How many more have their actually been? A hundred? A thousand? More?" Gaster growls. Chara sighs.

"I don't know. But what makes this time different?"  
"What do you mean?"  
"If I had memories of killing you here, then that means everything we did was EXACTLY the same as before, except now… something's just a little different. Something caused me to remember the previous timeline, the REAL timeline, not any of this fake reset crap. The one where I killed you, and we went back to the cycle anyway." Chara muses. Gaster puts a finger to his chin.

"If we both arrived here in a previous timeline, and did and said the exact same things, except this time you didn't kill me… then I simply don't know. Everything built up exactly the same way, you SHOULD have killed me, but you didn't."

"All the previous fake worlds. Queen Undyne, King Papyrus… all of them were probably done a million times over as well. So… why? Why is now different if we've done everything, even those, before?" Chara grows frustrated from the impossible question.

"We won't get any answers here. Where is Frisk?" Gaster asks.  
"I… actually don't know. He left me to fight you, probably because he expected me to kill you."  
"So you believe me?" Gaster asks.  
"It's the only thing that makes sense… Frisk… why are you doing this…?" Chara asks themselves.


	28. Answers ad Infinitum

Undertale: The Machine  
Chapter 28  
Answers ad Infinitum

Chara and Gaster wander along the infinite whiteness before something brings Chara pause.

"Chara?" Gaster asks. Chara turns around and looks behind Gaster. Gaster turns around and lightly gasps. A memory version of themselves are walking along the same path.

"That doesn't make sense… isn't this the only time we've ever done this?" Chara asks. Gaster breaks into a cold sweat.  
"I don't understand what's going on." He exclaims before noticing something else. He beckons Chara to look to the end of the room.

Hundreds… thousands… millions of Charas, millions of Gasters, all walking into the same point. See-through and ghost-like, the memories all walk towards the heart of this infinite memory.

"W-What the hell is going on…?!" Chara asks with genuine fear in their voice. However, Chara and Gaster notice that all of the memories are being destroyed! One by one, something is killing them! They all explode, their top halves melting! Chara suddenly gets a realization!

"GET DOWN!" They yell, pinning Gaster to the ground as a gigantic explosion rocks the white memory around them! The ground cracks and turns gray and they turn back to see where the explosion came from, only to see a giant hole in the ground.

"How did you know that was going to happen…?!" Gaster asks.  
"I don't know, I feel… like… I've seen all of this, but at the same time, I feel like this is my first time here. This is so strange, but I just saved our lives. We have to move forward, we can't leave now."  
"R-Right." Gaster confirms. Gaster and Chara run forward and jump into the hole within the now ruined abyss, the hole that nearly took their life! On the way down, giant spikes erupt from the walls as they fall! Gaster and Chara can make our memory versions of themselves being impaled over and over!

"HOLD ON!" Chara says, grabbing into Gaster's forearm and maneuvering through the pit, dodging spike after spike! Memory versions of themselves crashing upon spikes, being impaled, skewered, or just plain grinding against the spiky wall and dying, and Chara somehow finds the way to dodge near-death situations and even save Gaster at the same time!

"GAH!" Gaster yells, forcing his eyes shut as they dodge hundreds of killer spikes! Chara notices they're reaching the bottom, but they're falling too fast! Several of the memories simply crash into the bottom and die instantly, but Chara notices a few of them utilize Gaster's magic to land safely!

"GASTER, STOP BEING A COWARD AND OPEN YOUR EYES!" Chara yells, Gaster opens his eyes and, out of reflect, summons a barrier of magic that they crash through, breaking just enough of their fall to land on their feet safely. Chara and Gaster take deep breaths, their hearts going a mile a minute.

"What the hell is going on…?!" Chara says, looking at the memories up the pit they fell into. Hundreds, thousands of versions of themselves, all dead or dying.

"I don't know, but this place seems hell-bent on killing us. We should tread with caution."  
"Right." Chara says as they move through a single hallway in this pit, noticing a few memories pass by. Most of them are just Chara themselves walking without Gaster, or some Gasters walking without Charas. So many different possibilities, and Chara feels like they remember all of them.

A rainbow colored energy funnels into the core of this dreamscape, and soon they come to the end of the tunnel, which leads to what appears to be a rainbow colored bottomless abyss! A bridge made of light extends to the middle of it. There is a bright, almost blinding light at the end.

"Frisk is over there." Chara says.  
"Are you sure? Have you been here before?" Gaster asks for confirmation. Chara shakes their head.  
"No, I just know he's over there. Come on." Chara walks forward with Gaster following them. They walk upon the magical pathway, lights of every color pouring into the abyss below them. One wrong step and they'd be falling forever. The blinding light near the middle begins to become obfuscated by a shadow eclipsing it. The shadow looks back with a neutral expression.

It's Frisk…

"Chara. You made it. I was beginning to think you died."  
"You didn't make it easy." Chara growls. But then they sigh.  
"Why are you doing this?" Chara asks. After they ask that, Gaster speaks up too-  
"Give me answers for once in your life, Frisk! Why have you been resetting the world for decades?! What answer could you possibly have to answer for this madness?!" Gaster asks. Frisk frowns.

"We're at the end of the line, the end of all time… and all you wish to do is badger me with senseless questions? Do you have any idea what's at stake if even a single second is wasted?!" Frisk yells!

"No, tell us!" Chara says. Frisk furrows his brow and extends his hand to Chara, who gasps.

"What…?"  
"Take my hand, and I'll show you." Frisk says.  
"Don't do it, Fallen Child, it's a trap!" Gaster yells.  
"We only made it this far because of you, Chara. I wouldn't lie to you now." Frisk says. Chara looks back to Gaster and to Frisk before timidly taking his hand.

At that moment, the Infinity within Chara's chest explodes outward, the blinding light in the center of the abyss dying down to reveal a magical glass orb with a life-form within it. Chara's eyes shoot wider than they've ever been and they back away.

"A-A-A…" Chara stammers.  
"Asriel." Frisk confirms.

Frisk, Chara, and Gaster all look to the center of this infinite realm, noticing the monster prince, curled into a fetal ball within a glass prison, here in the center of an infinite waterfall of rainbow energy.

"I… don't understand." Chara stammers. Gaster steps forward.  
"The notes from my twenty-four past selves… they mentioned you going on an insane adventure looking for Asriel. They testified that Flowey existed in the ruins for all this time… why were you looking for Asriel if he was there all along?" Gaster asks. Frisk looks back at him with an angry expression.

"Flowey is NOT Asriel. Asriel died a long time go… but Flowey's actions did one thing that set all of these actions in motion." Frisk says, walking forward and touching the glass ball.

"His actions within the Underground managed to allow him to, even for a moment, create an Infinity within himself. When he died, that Infinity was lost… or so I thought. Whenever the world was reset, I still held my memories, even if Flowey lost his. No matter how many times I fought, no matter how many times I reset the world, I could never save Asriel… because he would always lose his Infinity. That's… why…" Frisk says, starting to slow the explanation. He turns back and shrugs while looking Gaster dead in the eye.

"That's why I brought your spirit back from the brink, Gaster."  
"WHAT?!" Gaster yells and grits his teeth.  
"My entire life is nothing but a plaything to you?!" Gaster yells, but Frisk merely shakes his head.  
"Much like Flowey, Chara, Asgore, Sans, indeed everyone- myself included, we all have our roles to play. I merely played my role so many times that I recognized subtle differences whenever I would reset the world. For one, a small glitch within the Core's power matrices. I knew that couldn't be anything but you. So, I lent your angry spirit a hand. Surely you don't think I didn't notice you constantly hounding me every year I would reset the world? I would search the world every year, because something like a true infinity would never truly be lost, but until now, I suppose I never understood the true concept." Frisk explains. Gaster looks about ready to burst, but he instead sighs and falls to one knee.

"I… can't believe it. These past 25 years… have they meant nothing…?"  
"No, not nothing. EVERYTHING." Frisk exclaims. Gaster looks over with a broken expression.  
"Your usefulness to me, though initially strange, has borne us a TRUE Infinity. One that is not within the confines of an unstable being like Asriel. With this soul, I can finally bring them back!" Frisk says, looking over to Asriel with a happy face.

"WAIT!" Chara yells, running forward. Frisk looks back, curious.  
"I LOVE Asriel, he's my brother, but how exactly do you propose to bring him back?"  
"It's simple. We give this soul to Asriel, he stabilizes across all timelines, and it would be as if he never died."  
"R-Really? Is it really that simple?" Chara asks with a slight smile.  
"It is, Chara." Frisk says with an innocent expression, but Gaster interrupts them.

"LIES! If Asriel comes back to life, he would just die again! It was Chara's influence that caused them to lose their life on the surface!" Gaster yells. Chara looks shocked but actually looks back to Frisk and nods.

"I hate to admit it, but Gaster's probably right. Going that far back would get us nowhere."  
"You're right." Frisk says, still smiling before continuing-  
"That's why you can't go back."  
"W-What…?!"  
"Look at us, Chara. We're both two kids that got in way over our heads, but we can make it up to Asriel, who was innocent in all of this! He didn't deserve this!" Frisk explains. Chara looks up at the sleeping Asriel within the glass orb and looks just about ready to emotionally shatter.

"Don't listen to him, Chara." Gaster says. Chara looks over with wide, hopeless eyes before he continues.  
"With this Infinity, there are always multiple possibilities. Isn't that right, Frisk? You know that if I were to claim this Infinity, that I could send this world back to the stone age, and stop the monster/human war from ever happening! Wouldn't that ALSO save your precious Asriel?"

"At what intense cost, Gaster?" Frisk interrogates, furrowing his brow.  
"At the cost of the humans that instigated it!" Gaster yells in judgement!  
"Hypocrisy and madness! I would never allow you to do that!" Frisk yells, balling his fists.  
"So, what, you would use this infinite power to just give Asriel his old life back? At the cost of Chara?" Gaster asks.  
"It's the least we can do. Asriel was innocent in all of this. Isn't that right, Chara?" Frisk asks.  
"I… I…" Chara doesn't know what to say. Chara falls to their knees and goes quiet.

A somber mood fills the air.

"Chara, snap out of it! Remember, we've been here before! Hundreds, thousands of times!" Gaster says to Chara. Frisk begins to chuckle.

"Haha, what? What are you talking about?"  
"Don't play dumb, Frisk! We saw all of the memories here."  
"Memories? OH! You mean the astral projections. Haha, you guys really understand so little." Frisk begins to laugh harder. Chara looks up.

"What do you mean…?"  
"You two haven't BEEN here before!"  
"But… the memories-"  
"ASTRAL PROJECTIONS! Those people you saw, different versions of yourselves, they weren't memories, they were projections by the Infinity! Your Determination is Infinite now, Chara, which means you don't need to save and load to see all possibilities, you can just SEE them!" Frisk explains with a strange smile-

"You must have seen a possible outcome where you killed Gaster and thought you did it in the past, because that's all you thought was possible, retroactive learning! But now you're finally able to see the truth of the timelines, right here, right now! All those people you saw dying on your way here, those were merely possibilities to actions you haven't performed yet! All leading you here, to me." Frisk explains. Chara's eyes go hazy, unable to keep everything together.

"It's a shame, isn't it? That true knowledge always comes at the end of our lives."  
"Our…?" Chara says. Frisk looks back.  
"Well, if you never get Asriel killed, then what happens to you? You probably stay on the surface, never falling into Ebott, or perhaps never exist at all; which means the legend never starts, and other children probably never fall either. Asriel stays alive… happy and safe underground, and we stay on the surface." Frisk explains, the final details to his motivation.

"But… they're trapped down there!" Chara yells-  
"Alive, and full of hope!" Frisk yells-  
"Scared, and imprisoned by your people!" Gaster yells!

All three of them argue in a circle as this timeless void quakes around them.

"Damn it. Sorry to cut the explanations short, but I meant it when I said that every second here we waste is bad. Just because we're in an abyss doesn't mean we aren't on a strict schedule. Eternity starts now, or it doesn't. Either one of our worlds come true, or none of them do." Frisk explains.

Frisk's world is one where Chara never falls into the Underground. This will allow Asriel to never die, but will also keep the monsters trapped for… who knows how long.

Gaster's world is one where the Infinity sends him back to the first Monster/Human war, and wins it for Monsterkind! Allowing them to become the dominant force on the planet.

But… what does Chara want?

"What… about a third alternative?" Chara asks. Frisk and Gaster look back.  
"Third-"  
"Alternative?" They both ask.

"What if… I go back to when I fell down in the Underground, and used this Infinity to outright shatter the barrier? We can ascend to the surface-"

"Let me stop you right there." Frisk interrupts, surprising Chara before Frisk continues.  
"Did you ever wonder how we even ended up here?" Frisk asks.

To be honest, that question never crossed Chara's mind.

"Probably not. Let me explain it to you. The Infinity I want to use is capable of a great many things, even restoring an immortal soul to its rightful place across time and space… yet why didn't it work for you? Why did you return to the Underground, right when you died, but time froze?" Frisk asks.

"I… don't know… why?"  
"Because it's not YOUR soul you're using to do it!" Frisk explains with finality. The truth shocking Chara to their foundation.

He's completely right. It's been so long that Chara has forgotten that this soul was stolen from Frisk himself… The Infinity soul floats between the two of them

"Which means that even if you wanted to, it wouldn't work. Now, if I had the Infinity, I could simply give it to Asriel, which would send him back into the Underground. But you? You can't time travel using a soul that isn't yours. You'd simply shatter the entire universe." Frisk coldly explains. Chara shakes their head.

"There has to be another way… there has to be a way that's better than what either of you are suggesting!"

"Even if there was, I spent literal decades trying to think of one, Chara. Not just me, Gaster too. And unfortunately, we're officially out of time. A decision has to be made now, or everything will be lost." Frisk explains.

"How's this for a decision, we KILL you, and do things my way!" Gaster smiles, raising a Gaster-Blaster.  
"You mean destroying humanity? We saw how well that worked out last time, it got Asriel killed and spun us into this mess in the first place! The way I see it, NEITHER of you are fit to make an informed decision on this subject-" Frisk says, raising his right arm and drawing the Infinity into himself, causing Chara to screech out in pain! Gaster looks on in horror as the very life is drained from Chara!

"So allow me to make the decisions for us. For a future worth saving!"


	29. The Battle at the End of Time

Undertale: The Machine  
Chapter 29  
The Battle at the End of Time

Frisk's hand spreads out, each of his fingers at their absolute precipice! Hatred burning in his eyes!

"STOP!" Gaster yells, launching a Gaster laser at him, but Frisk merely defends against it with one hand! Gaster breaks into a cold sweat as Frisk fixates his gaze on him.

"You're lucky that you're so weak, Gaster. Otherwise I might have had to kill you." Frisk taunts.  
"GAHHHAHHH! STOOOOOOP!" Chara says, on their knees and with pain-borne tears pouring from their eyes! They fall belly-down onto the floor and look at the abyss below them with glazing eyes.

"It will all be over soon, Chara." Frisk says. Frisk, now with the Infinity firmly in his grasp, turns around to the spiritual cocoon around Asriel.  
"You little demon, how could you do that to your own friend!?" Gaster yells.  
"FRIEND, HA. Chara not only was the sole reason for Asriel's death, but also took the infinity for themselves. There was no guarantee that their plan would end with the destruction of the whole universe, or just this." Frisk explains, looking back at Gaster.

"Be that as it may, Chara took the Infinity to try to save both of you from-"  
"From you. Where are you going with this you colossal time waster?" Frisk insults. Gaster growls, his labcoat blowing in the rainbow energy around them.

"You're going to throw away Chara's future for Asriel's! This is murder, the exact thing you tried to stop me from doing with my idea of the Infinity!"  
"With one subtle difference, Gaster, Asriel's choices at the end were not purely his own. It was only through Chara's malignant influence that Asriel was killed! I spent decades trying to find a way to find a TRULY happy ending for everyone, but we've officially run out of time FOREVER! And this is the best we're gonna get!"

"Frisk, DON'T!" Gaster yells in vain as Frisk detaches the Infinity from themselves and throws it into the spirit casing around Asriel's suspended body. The rainbow-colored soul resonates with the monster body within, recognizing that it has the ability to actually absorb it, rather than host it. The soul gently enters the goat child's body.

As that happens, the timeless world around them ceases the rumbling…

The glass-like casing around Asriel lowers, then explodes into light, dropping Asriel into the center of the room.

"ASRIEL!" Frisk yells, running forward! Gaster runs to Chara and shakes them.  
"Fallen Child, Fallen Child! Chara! Wake up!" Gaster says in vain. Chara's eyes are completely empty.

They're dead… Frisk has no remorse for Chara. Their death was merely a detail, a stepping stone. He didn't hesitate, and he didn't even look back… Gaster grits his teeth and looks behind himself. The pathway out has stabilized, leading out into the white memory, the pit of spikes having vanished. He runs out without Frisk noticing.

"A-Asriel! Are you awake?! It's me, Frisk!" Frisk says, shaking Asriel, ruffling his white fur as he does so. Frisk keeps excitedly yet worriedly shaking Asriel's arm as he sleeps, before Asriel finally blinks once.

"Huh…? What…?" Asriel says, opening his eyes!  
"ASRIEL!" Frisk yells in genuine happiness, lunging at him and hugging him, Asriel hasn't even so much as gotten a chance to sit up yet!  
"F-Frisk? Where are we…? This isn't the game…"  
"It doesn't matter! I finally did it! I found a way to bring you back without losing you! You're back now!" Frisk says! Asriel finally stands up, as does Frisk, who wipes his eyes.

"Frisk… this is amazing! How…?"  
"It took so… SO long, Asriel! Decades! I thought I was crazy near the end of it, doing the same thing for so long, but it finally paid off! I never stopped believing in you!" Frisk says, the weight of the emotion finally catching up to him. Frisk falls to his knees and takes a breath. Asriel smiles, but Frisk falling down gives him the ability to look 'past' him.

What he sees causes his eyes to shrink.

"OH MY GOD, CHARA!" Asriel yells at the top of his lungs! Asriel runs past Frisk who looks back with a chilling feeling going down his spine.  
"CHARA! CHARACHARACHARACHARA!" Asriel yells over and over, shaking Chara's body over and over! As soon as Asriel's hand touches Chara's skin however, they flinch and cover their mouth.

"C-Cold… d-dead… F-Frisk… what… happened…?" Asriel looks back at Frisk with an urge to vomit. Frisk's unfocused eyes fixate nowhere in particular.

"Chara… was a necessary sacrifice to bringing you back." Frisk quietly explains.  
"WH-WHAT…?" Asriel gasps loudly, trying their best to remain composed.  
"I'm sorry Asriel… a real happy ending wasn't possible… this was all I could do…"  
"Frisk… I… I… I can't… I mean… how, why…? What am I supposed to do…?" Asriel stammers, still covering their mouth and looking at Chara. Frisk stands up and walks over to Asriel.

"Asriel… you were both dead, Chara AND you… bringing back even one of you was miracle enough."  
"B-But you already had Chara, why kill them for me…? Oh my God Frisk…!"  
"B-Because! I… you… I mean, Chara did this to you! Their crazy fucking plan is what killed you two in the first place!" Frisk coarsely explains.  
"FRISK… I DON'T WANT THIS! OH MY GOD, SEND ME BACK, SEND ME BAAAAACK!" Asriel screeches, grabbing their skull and shaking their head over and over!

"A-Asriel, calm down!" Frisk says with a nervous smile.  
"WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME, I THOUGHT YOU WERE MY FRIEND!"  
"…! I… I AM your friend…!"  
"I SAID TO FORGET ABOUT ME, I DIDN'T WANT THIS! OH MY GOD, CHARA! AHHHHHHH!" Asriel explains, inarticulately screaming as this rainbow abyss starts to rumble even harder than before!

"Asriel-"  
"CHARA! COME BACK!"  
"Asriel…"  
"CHARA, PLEASE COME BACK! I'M SORRY I RUINED YOUR PLAN!"  
"ASRIEL!"  
 **"NOOOOOOOOO!"** Asriel yells, his body destabilizing and exploding into light! Frisk's eyes dilate and he fires his head in every direction.

"Wha… wha… WHAT?! A-ASRIEL?! NO! ASRIEL!" Frisk yells as Asriel's body returns to dust in a spectacular affair of rainbow colored stars! Before long, the seven human souls float down, Frisk's own included. The red soul returns to Frisk.

"…No… how…? After all this time… decades… wasted… and for what…?" Frisk asks, falling to his knees, his eyes empty and devoid of energy. The void around them violently heaves. Gaster returns carrying a strange device. It looks like some kind of turbine or generator, but it has no outlets, and there is a keyboard and monitor on top of it.

The world looks just about ready to collapse in on them, but Gaster inputs something that expands a realm of existence around them! The void around them finally collapses like a star, leaving nothing but darkness around them, but Gaster's new field protects them from it. Gaster looks over at the six human souls floating around Frisk, while his own red soul is back within his chest. The corpse of Chara is also here.

"Damn, I was just in time. Looks like we didn't make it." Gaster surmises.  
"Where's Asriel?" He asks. Frisk merely looks over with an empty expression.  
"…Wait. Don't tell me…" Gaster notes, looking at dust scattered across the glass-like floor.  
"…Damn it." He says with closed eyes.

For a while, both he and Frisk simply exist within this slowly collapsing field of energy. Gaster sits down next to his machine and looks over to Frisk.

"Guess this is it. You brought me back, huh?"  
"Mmhm. A long time ago. Almost three decades. I felt a glitch within the Core, and being experienced with souls, I knew it was your spirit, from the stories I've put together over time. I did what I could to at least replicate your soul using the Core itself. This machine, I've never actually seen it before. It's smaller than I imagined."

They exchange idle banter as the reality around them begins to crack. It won't be long now before everything is erased forever.

"Asriel… I'm an idiot…" Frisk says, burying his face into his legs as he sits down. Gaster closes his eyes as this temporary realm closes in on them slowly, cracks being heard. It'll all be over soon.

However, the human souls, floating just out of reach, begin to spin around Chara's dead body. Frisk and Gaster look over as Asriel's dust begins to spin into a small tornado.

"What-"  
"The…?!" They say in unison as Asriel's dust forms into a fully formed Boss Monster Soul! Inverted and ivory, the six human souls absorb themselves into Asriel's soul before it fires into Chara's body! The realm around them destabilizes and the shield shatters! Neither Gaster nor Frisk has a chance to scream as an enveloping nothingness obscures their collective vision.

* * *

"Ngh…" Frisk shakes his head and looks around.

"What the? What is this?" Frisk asks himself, standing up and noticing himself within what looks like someone's house. There is a very strange wind blowing.

"I don't understand what's going on." A familiar voice lets out behind Frisk. He turns around to see a very hate-filled Chara standing behind him! They punch at Frisk, who blocks in time and slides across the room. Frisk smiles slightly.

"Heh… I guess this is it, huh?" Frisk says with a bead of sweat. Chara looks down at their soul. It's not rainbow colored anymore, but it's close. Instead of a red color, there's a white.

"If only I was more patient…" Chara says, closing their eyes.  
"Huh?" Frisk grunts as Chara fires their eyes open with fury burning within them! Chara launches at Frisk and kicks with the force of universe behind them! Frisk nonetheless utilizes the trueness of his Determination to dodge the next attacks and then lunge at Chara, who manages to block Frisk's attack with a green barrier made of strange human magic.

"Asriel died because my plan wasn't foolproof. Asriel was not bloodthirsty enough. He hesitated, and got us killed. It was my fault for not being patient enough!" Chara yells with strange unfocused anger! Chara jumps and crashes down with the force of a monster ten times their size! The livingroom of this strange house explodes, blowing Frisk backwards! Frisk slides, noticing that he hits a wall behind him made of stone! Fires burn in torches nearby! They are not in that house anymore, but are instead in some kind of monastery. Chara marches towards Frisk, who is on the defensive.

"I left my home from so long ago to come to Ebott, because I feared what would happen if I stayed. I lacked bravery, and I ran from my problems." Chara growls.  
"Well you're standing up to them now, for what it's worth!" Frisk says with a strange smile! Frisk puts his fists up and trades blows with Chara!

Each hit draws blood and knocks out breath, before long, Frisk has no choice but dodge behind Chara and flip away! Frisk is a master fighter, spending decades of his life dueling with the strongest monsters on the planet with seemingly no effort, but Chara has a strange amount of power behind them, despite no longer controlling the Infinity.

"Have you ever been afraid, Frisk?"  
"Huh…?"  
"Afraid of things you can't control? Things you want to take back? FACE YOUR FEARS, FRISK!" Chara yells, the world of memory around them exploding into a different reality, shattering like glass before settling like water! Before Frisk's eyes is Undyne and Monsterkid, water falls around them within the Underground!

"I, UNDYNE, WILL STRIKE YOU DOWN!" The memory lets out, drawing hundreds of spears! Frisk furrows his brow, dodging attack after attack, beckoning only a neutral response from Chara beyond.

"Not even the strongest monster in the world can stand up to what you have, Frisk. Your sins will crawl over your body for all eternity, with no one to judge you."

"GIVE ME A BREAK YOU DAMNED HYPOCRITE!" Frisk yells, blasting Undyne in half, their body fading to dust and the memory destabilizing before he continues to speak-

"All you wanted to do from the minute you arrived in the underground was find a way to destroy Humanity! You ran from your problems and got Asriel killed and threw monsterkind into a war they would never win! You deserve to die for what you've done!" Frisk yells in judgement, going on the offensive against Chara! The memory sets into a new area. A dance studio at the base of Mount Ebott!

Appropriate, as Frisk and Chara's battle looks as choreographed as a dance, each attack capable of shattering buildings, missing each other by hairs, the air around them whipping up into tornados before they both punch each other in the jaw, sliding across the room to different ends. Frisk and Chara breathe heavily before Chara closes their eyes.

"I will… admit… I was never loyal. I lacked integrity, and my judgement suffered because of it, but Asriel loved me for who I was… treated me as family… and I got him killed…" Chara says, shaking their head with tears in their eyes.

"I PAID FOR MY INSOLENCE WITH MY LIFE! BUT NOW I HAVE A NEW PURPOSE, FRISK!"  
"And what purpose is that?!" Frisk yells with wide eyes and a toothy laughing smile!  
"TO KILL YOU, TAKE YOUR SOUL, AND SET EVERYTHING BACK THE WAY IT WAS!"  
"You're certainly welcome to try, Fallen Child!" Frisk yells! Both of them match blow after blow, the windows in the dance studio shattering from the impacts before the world around them too, shatters. They find themselves in a library, the whirlwind of their attacks blowing books and papers away!

"I will persevere, Frisk. You've spent your whole life trying to break the cycle… Determination only hurts people!"  
"Determination can change the world for the better! All I wanted to do was to help everyone, to help Asriel!" Frisk yells! Chara furrows their brow, but looks deep within Frisk's eyes.

He's not lying.

That makes Chara even more angry!

"HOW DARE YOU STAND BEFORE ME, DENYING YOUR OWN SINS, LORDING YOUR DETERMINATION OVER ALL OF THOSE AROUND YOU, INCLUDING MY OWN BROTHER, YOUR FRIEND ASRIEL?! ALL OF THIS IS YOUR FAULT, YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT WELL ENOUGH ALONE!"

"I will not answer to you, Chara! I've defeated demons far scarier than you, and struck down men with a more complicated morality than yours. Even if we DO just go back to the way things were, then I'll find another way for a better ending!"

"Asriel begged you to let the world continue without him, to forget him, and just be happy on the surface, have you forgotten his last wish?!"

"…" Frisk grits his teeth and shakes his head!  
"Then why?"  
"Asriel gave up. There is an ending out there for everyone, and I won't find it unless I have what you have! I can create another Infinity, even if it takes another twenty-five years!"  
"Why…? Why are you so driven to save Asriel? Even when he became a god he couldn't save himself-"  
"Because I am Determined! And I will destroy EVERYONE who stands in my way! In the end, I WILL find the true ending, the ending everyone deserves! For Asriel! For humankind, for monsterkind! Maybe even for you!"

"…" Chara says nothing, but smiles slightly. Chara takes off and matches blows with Frisk once more! They match each other's moves perfectly, creating shockwaves as their fists meet! One giant attack shatters the reality around this library, and soon they find themselves within a chrome colored area. Everything is reflective, every turn shows a mirror-like coating where they can see each other.

"Kindness… perhaps my largest weakness. I loved Asriel, but in the end I wanted to use him to destroy humanity. I kept hating and hating, and it got us both killed. What about you, Frisk? How do you handle the things that hold you back?"

"At the end of my road, I always have the option to go back. I don't have time to dedicate myself to being a force of pure goodness, or pure evil. Somewhere out there is the truth, and it lies between the dualities. The truth is only accessible by the Determined!" Frisk preaches, raising his hands in defense as Chara unleashes a barrage of kicks! They snap forward and kick Frisk across the room, only to have him bounce off a nearby wall and rebound, tripping Chara!

Chara however does not fall to the floor, and instead corrects themselves with their hands and backflips away with a gasp of strained breath.

"Determination… it just gets people killed. But you don't care."  
"What…?"  
"You've never cared!" Chara yells, summoning another memory! A memory of an iris-less Sans! The Sans summons a barrage of bones at Frisk, who dodges them all from memory!

"You killed his brother, your friend, who only ever wanted you to be happy, just to see what would happen! How can you look yourself in the face!"

"HAH! If you want me to go through a crisis of conscience-" Frisk says, kicking Sans' head off as he explodes into dust-

"Then it will have to come from someone who isn't a demon." Frisk taunts with a toothy grin. Chara laughs as the realm changes once more to a grassy meadow. The wind blows both of their hairs and clothes. They look each other in the eyes.

Their respectively red eyes.

"Justice… an abstract concept, yet perhaps the simplest out of anything humankind can produce. Every fault must be paid in full, isn't that right? Or do you consider yourself above consequences?"

"With Determination, every crime is reversed to zero! If there's no victim, there's no crime!"  
"HAH! What absolutely pathetic excuses! This, this hubris, this disconnection from human virtues… this is why we're both here, fighting at the end of time! You can't let go! You refuse to answer for your crimes, and childishly think that you alone can fix the entire universe's problems!" Chara yells, rushing at Frisk, the green grass below banking from the sudden movement! Frisk dodges and retaliates, kneeing Chara in the stomach! He tries to punch downward but Chara headbutts Frisk, causing him to fly back with blood trailing from his nose!

Chara grips their abdomen, struggling for breath as Frisk slowly rises back up and wipes his nose.

"So you want to kill me and take my soul… just so you can go back to the time when you and Asriel were both dead?"  
"I'm not a human anymore, Frisk… my soul is long gone. Asriel has given me one last chance… using his monster soul- what's left of it anyway, if I can absorb your soul, it would be as if Asriel became God again! Using his powers one last time, I can wipe the slate clean and set everything back to 0, back to before you reset the world even one time! A TRUE RESET! Frisk! It's time to end this, no more holding back!" Chara says, drawing a knife from their pants and spinning it in their hand. Frisk nods and does the same.

Before long, the green meadow fades away, and they are left standing within Asgore's throne room, yellow flower pollen blowing in the air.

"Determination… Determination. DETERMINATION! I AM SO SICK OF DETERMINATION, FRISK! WHAT GOOD WILL IT DO YOU, HERE?! IF YOU KILL ME, THE UNIVERSE WILL BE DESTROYED!"

"I'll figure something out, I always do."  
"AHAHAHAHA! SUCH ABSOLUTE **INSANITY!** " Chara yells in equal part amusement and blind fury! Chara rushes at Frisk, knife drawn, and meets him in mortal combat! The blades spark against each other, striking with intent to kill for what feels like the first time in forever! Frisk dodges and slashes down, narrowly missing Chara's face, the tip of his knife cutting their hair!

Mere hairs from death, the two fallen children fight here at the end of time, if one dies, the universe is destroyed. If the other dies, the universe is reset to its infancy, and time resets to be spun like a wheel again and again.

They both fight with tears in their eyes, both believing theirs to be the true way, but in reality, there is no way out of this madness, and they know that…! There is no third option! There is only this madness, friends fighting over a choice of which hell to spin the universe into! A swift death, or an endless suffering…?!

Blood spatters across the beautiful yellow flowers as the two children nick each other with their blades, inches from death.

"Ha… ha… ha…"  
"Ha… ahaha… heh…" They both grunt, getting tired, blood leaking from their various wounds. Chara falls to their knees, and Frisk looks ready to capitalize on the weakness, but he falls to his knees as well.

* * *

"G-God… damn it…" Frisk says.  
"Frisk… it's over… let me win…" Chara says. Frisk merely shakes his head, blood forcing one of his eyes closed.  
"I… I can't let it end like this, Chara… the old world… it's not good enough… it's not fair… I have the power to change it… I HAVE to change it…!" Frisk says with blood and tears in his eyes. He looks over to also see Chara crying, covering their eyes like a bawling child, the knife now on the ground, covered by yellow flowers.

"A-Asriel… I… I miss him so much…" Chara finally says out of the blue, shocking Frisk. Frisk musters the last of his power to weakly crawl over to Chara, who opens their wet eyes to see the bloodied Frisk near them.

"Heh… you're crying…"  
"… What…?"  
"You're such a crybaby, Chara." Frisk strangely says.  
"What are you…?"  
"What if Asriel saw you right now? I bet they'd laugh."  
"… Hah… haha…" Chara giggles, realizing that Frisk is joking about how Asriel used to cry all the time. The yellow pollen continues to blow, and both children collapse in this throne room of memories.

"I'm sorry, Chara…"  
"I know you are, Frisk…" They say to each other, as they close their eyes.

Before long, their breathing stops. A slow, gentle death. Frisk's red soul and Chara's multicolored soul eventually float above their bodies. From the shadows, a man walks in with a solemn look on his face. He puts a large machine down at his feet and picks the two souls up in his hands.

"It's a shame this had to happen, isn't it, Frisk… Chara…?" The man, now identified as Gaster, lets out. He knows they can't hear him, but that's okay. Gaster takes Frisk's soul and gently positions it next to the weird monster/human soul that Chara was using. Frisk's red soul is absorbed into it, and it once again resembles an Infinity, except this time, one with a white sheen.

"I don't even know if I can use this. There's a monster soul in this, I don't think I can absorb it anymore… I don't think they can either. But… maybe… maybe there's someone else that can. I don't know if this is going to work… but I have to try. This machine… created by the spirit of Gaster, my spirit… that Frisk allowed to come to life… maybe it will have one final use." Gaster says to himself. Putting the TRUE Infinity atop of the device.

"If it can create a fake world with Frisk's Determination… what can it create with everyone's Determination…?" Gaster says with a genuine smile.


	30. An Ending to Things

Undertale: The Machine  
Chapter 30  
An Ending to Things

Frisk opens his eyes to see an array of varying colors flying past his vision. He looks up to see himself falling, seemingly infinitely, into a realm of light below. He looks around, noticing that he's not alone here. Indeed, seven other humans are falling with him. Each of them asleep, the winds blowing their hair as they descend to the light below them.

"Can you hear me… Frisk?" A voice lets out. Frisk looks around.  
"You won't see me, I'm not with you. I'm just seeing if you can hear me." The voice continues.  
"I… can hear you. What is happening?"  
"After your fight with Chara, the world was becoming unstable. You both perished, and at the last second, I managed to activate my machine using your two souls." The voice explains. Frisk now recognizes that the person talking is Gaster, but Frisk closes his eyes.

"Your machine… huh? So we're going to a fake world again?"  
"… I actually don't know. I think this might be real this time."  
"What…?"  
"The amount of Determination within this emulation process is more than that which would be required for a monster to become a god. Asriel's dust formed into a temporary soul for Chara to hold onto. With the seven human souls absorbed, yours included, I am essentially creating a NEW world."

"A… new world? Not a fake one?" Frisk asks, looking at the falling humans, noticing one is Chara.  
"That's right. I'm afraid I can't join you in it. After all, someone has to turn this thing on, huh?"  
"Gaster… I… I can find you when this is over."  
"… Hah. You know, every bone in my body says it's impossible, but I bet you'll find a way." Gaster chuckles lightly. Frisk looks up to see the light getting closer.

"What will this world be like…?" Frisk asks. Gaster pauses for a moment.  
"I… don't know. There was a glitch in the program."  
"A glitch?"  
"Yeah. I don't know what caused it, but I didn't set this world up. I didn't alter any part of it, these specifications are completely unknown to me. But I didn't have a choice. If everything goes right, then that would have to mean what I'm doing will never exist, right…? But I'm sure your universe will be fine. After all, with the power of a REAL God within it, I'm sure something as trifling as a creation loop won't stop it." Gaster reassures.

"Gaster… why?" Frisk asks with a cracky voice.  
"Huh?"  
"Why are you saving me? After everything I did to you…?"  
"… Watching you, watching Chara, watching Asriel… seeing how being consumed by our pasts only harms the future of ourselves and those around us… this was the obvious solution."

"Hah… so you don't want to destroy humanity anymore?"  
"There's so much about Determination I don't know. I only briefly skimmed Alphys' notes after I woke up in this weird memory world. Maybe it's even stronger than I think. Being able to create an entire universe… a REAL one… using this fake machine... it's crazy, you know?" Gaster says. Frisk is now only a few seconds from the light.

"I'm… about to go, Gaster."  
"I know." Gaster says.

For a while, neither of them say anything.

"Kid."  
"Yes?" Frisk asks.  
"Take care of the prince for me."  
"Huh…? Prince? You mean Asriel? But…" Frisk says, looking around.  
"It's just a feeling, kid."  
"… A feeling…"  
"Goodbye." Gaster says with finality.  
"Goodbye, Gaster. Thank you." Frisk says, closing his eyes as he and the 7 children around him touch the light, having it splash like water, enveloping everything.

* * *

 _Rotation 26_

 _24 notes have been deleted. I can see it on the machine. It's a strange machine. A single note now remains on it, from someone calling himself Gaster 25. Another file exists in a tertiary program, something about something called "Determination." Apparently they're from someone called Alphys. That woman who is trying to take my job? Feh. Anyway, Frisk..._

 _Apparently, he, with the help of two humans, created this world. A world better than the one he left off. He mentioned the Monster/Human war. I am sad to admit that the war still occurred in this better world, but he then went on to mention how the fallen child Chara, along with the Monster Prince Asriel died. That did not occur in this timeline. I can only assume it was because of his work, and for that, I am elated. When I woke up in my lab (because I apparently don't sleep anywhere except at my desk) this machine was next to me. I thought it was a gift from Sans, but it was slightly familiar._

 _Only now it seems so obvious to me. I, along with this human that Gaster 25 kept mentioning, FRISK... both went through intense turmoil, and this world is the payoff. He said that I would awaken with no memory, but that it would be okay, Frisk would help fill in the blanks._

 _But... who is Frisk? WHERE is Frisk?_

* * *

"My liege!" A dog soldier in a suit of armor salutes as someone passes by.  
"Any news to report?" The white furred commander asks.  
"Sir, a human has fallen, just as you predicted!" The solider says. The commander smiles.  
"Thank you, I can take it from here."  
"Sir!"

The commander, wearing a robe emblazoned with a royal sigil, travels into the ruins of old Home. At the end of the road is a sun kissed grove, filled with yellow flowers he planted himself. He notices someone following him and he turns around.

"Chara?" He asks.  
"Asriel." The person replies.

The commander and follower are revealed to be Asriel: Prince of Monsters, and Chara: The Fallen Human. It's been years, and they've both been doing some growing up.

"So, today's the day?" Chara asks. Asriel nods.  
"Yes. Frisk has fallen down." Asriel says. Chara frowns.  
"Is… something wrong?" Asriel asks. Chara looks over to the innards of the Ruins.

"We didn't… exactly part on good terms, he and I."  
"…Chara, walk with me." Asriel says, turning around, and walking deeper in.  
"What?" Chara, surprised, follows him. The ruins are excessively dusty. No one but a few Froggits and Whimsuns call this place home. In this universe, the second war never started, so Toriel never had a reason to run. Because of that, the Ruins have been that much more empty, and unkempt.

"When I saw you dead, back at the last time I ever saw you two… I didn't know what to think. Frisk killed you. Let's not butter things up." Asriel says, matter-of-factly. Chara nods.

"But Frisk did those things because he loved me, as I love you, and as you love our family, Chara. What he did was wrong, what he did was very… very wrong. But because of his selfish, detestable actions, he laid the foundations of a better world for us."

"Are you saying… you forgive him?"  
"It's… a difficult question. Asking me to forgive him. Even he must know that. The world he tried to create… it didn't have him in it." Asriel states as they step over broken pillars and walk farther into the ruins.

"So… he wanted to create a world where you were alive, but he was gone? I remember that, though I only remember the fact that "I" was gone from it."

"Do you remember what dad was doing after we both died?" Asriel asks Chara as they navigate puzzles.  
"He declared war on humanity, and killed everyone who fell down, so that he could break the barrier."  
"Do you believe that even the cruelest, evilest of actions can be forgiven if they come from a good place?" Asriel asks, stopping, and turning around to Chara.

"… I don't know."  
"Neither do I." Asriel plainly says. Both he and Chara stand, looking at each other.

"But… I know that Frisk was willing to sacrifice everything for me. And he proved it by sacrificing his friends, his world, his past and future, and himself, all for me. I don't know why…"

"He told me that, with Determination… he could erase his sins with just ONE happy ending."  
"… Ha… ha…" Asriel says with a strange choked up laugh.  
"Asriel?"  
"I don't know what I'm going to say. I've prepared for more than five years with you, knowing he would fall someday. Now he's in here, and when I meet him, I don't know if I want to punch him, or hug him." Asriel says with diverted eyes.

"Could it be both?" Chara says with a cheeky smile, shrugging.  
"Haha… maybe, maybe." Asriel smiles, but it fades quickly.

"I'm scared." He says simply.  
"Scared?" Chara asks.  
"I'm scared that I will do the wrong thing. If I forgive him, then that means that he's right, and that a happy ending is worth any sacrifice… but if I condemn him, then how can I even claim to be anything but grateful that we've both been given this second chance?"

"…" Chara closes their eyes and crosses their arms.  
"Chara…?" Asriel asks, his cloak blowing in the Snowdin breeze wafting in from the giant open door.  
"We're not the only ones who spent five years thinking of what to say, you know. I'm sure Frisk has thought long and hard on what he's done. It would be impossible not to, right?"

"Haha, yeah… how do you think… he'll react? To… you know, seeing us?"  
"Only one way to find out." Chara says, pointing to the doorway out to the rest of the ruins. Asriel nods and they move farther in.

"I still have memories."  
"Huh?" Chara asks as they continue deeper in, almost to the end.  
"Memories of the "true ending" that Frisk set up. Everyone happy…"  
"Yeah."  
"Everyone… even Dad." Asriel says with a strange deepness. Chara looks over to see Asriel crying.  
"Are you alright?"  
"I'm going to forgive him, Chara. He forgave Flowey, didn't he? He forgave Asgore, didn't he?"  
"…" Chara says nothing, but instead nods. Asriel wipes his eyes with the sleeve of his robe and they continue inwards. They arrive at the mouth of the Ruins. Just one turn, and Frisk will be there.

"Are you ready?" Chara asks.  
"No." Asriel says, as they both continue anyway.

* * *

They both enter the room, and within it is a human, one a little bit taller than Frisk used to be, even if it's obviously the same person.

For a while, they all just look at each other without saying a word. Frisk looks over to Asriel, who in turn looks over to Frisk.

"You… you finally showed up." Asriel says, breaking the tension. Frisk nods with a nervous smile.  
"Sorry I'm late. But… I'm here now."  
"Yeah… Yeah." Asriel says. There is a strange frustration in the air.

"Frisk-"  
"Asriel-"  
"There's something I want to say-"  
"There's something I want to say-" They both say at the exact same time.

"Ah, you go first." Asriel says. Frisk nods.  
"W-Well… I could have come down whenever. But… I… I wasn't sure if coming back would have been… appropriate, you know?" Frisk says with a guilty face.

"I felt that… well, you guys have your happy ending… so that I didn't need to show up. So… I didn't!" He says. But then sighs,

"But… well, I'm here now. After having reset the world so many times before, having my fifteenth birthday up on the surface after I already have almost three decades of experience was a wakeup call. I didn't belong up there… so, I came down to meet you guys… and accept whatever comes my way."

"Accept whatever comes your way?" Asriel asks.

"Y-Yeah… I know, there's a giant elephant in the room. The things I did, both before and AFTER the End of Time… Gaster, the world, Chara, you… I have nothing to say in my defense. I wanted a happy ending, I NEEDED one… even if it wasn't for me. I couldn't stand by while someone else sacrificed themselves for a happy ending when I had the power to take even that sacrifice away. So… I put it all on my shoulders, and a lot of bad stuff happened. It got out of hand, and I regret ever having put you through it… I'm sorry, Asriel… I'm sorry, Chara."

Frisk finishes his heartfelt apology and closes his eyes with a genuine anguish upon his face. Chara and Asriel look to each other. Asriel walks over to Frisk, who can hear the footsteps upon the dirt and flowers. He looks up to meet eyes with the neutral-expressioned prince.

"As prince of the monsters… and leader of the royal guard… it's my duty to dispense Justice to those who commit crimes within the Underground. Tell me, Frisk, do you control the timeline? Does your determination give you the ability to Save and Load?"

"No… I lost that ability when I woke up in this world."

"So if you were to die, for the first time in history… the world would continue on without you?"

"I… y-yes… it would."

"I see. If I were to kill you right now, would you consider that Justice?" Asriel asks. Frisk's eyes go wide, but then they relent and he closes his eyes.

"… Absolutely…" He says with somber tones.

"…" Asriel says nothing. Frisk keeps his eyes closed. Soon however, he opens them and looks back. Asriel speaks once more.

"However, that will not do."  
"… Huh?"  
"One life would not be nearly enough to pay for the things you've done, Frisk. Instead, you're going to save everyone. Save our lives, our hopes, and our dreams."

"W-Wait, you mean-"

"Well, it's a damn shame that you can't save and load, Frisk… b-because we're still trapped down here, haha!" Asriel says, before spitting with laughter! Chara smiles and joins in on it, clapping Frisk on his back.

"Looks like you're stuck with us, Frisk. Maybe you can help Gaster and Alphys out with finding a way to break the barrier without using human souls?"

"I-I would love to!" Frisk says with choked up laughter.

* * *

 _Gaster's Extended Notes  
_

 _I finally met the infamous "Frisk." I have to say, I'm not that impressed. He doesn't seem that strong, or that smart. Was he really the one responsible for remaking this entire world? Feh._

 _Regardless, progress on finding a way out is progressing. SLOWLY... but progressing nonetheless. The notes that Gaster 25 left on Determination have sped things along. Alphys seems really impressed at my work, explaining that they were very easy to understand. I didn't want to tell her that it was from her in a previous timeline apparently. Who knows what sort of head explosions would occur. That said, our work within The Core progresses to this day._

 _The humans... Chara and Frisk... they get along. They get into deep conversations from time to time, and sometimes insist that I come along with them. They speak of the last rotation, rotation 25, and all the things that went on. The things they say make sense, and though they are interesting... I am a very busy man. I am content to do research on the Barrier, finding a way out for Monsterkind. But once we leave... what will await us? Humans, the people who put us down here._

 _Chara said they'd be an ambassador, someone who would speak on our behalf as a human who was raised by monsters. Would that be good enough? Frisk has gotten me into private conversations from time to time, where he and I would speak about things that he shouldn't know about, further proving that he knows everything from previous timelines. My fantasies about going back in time to stop the first war, he explains to me that this world was left by me when everything was on the line. That for every time we fought, for every time either of us nearly died, we would save each other's lives, and in the end... we created a whole new world._ _He said that getting humans to accept us into their world is actually the EASY part compared to all that they accomplished._

 _I'm inclined to agree. What a strange child, Frisk. I enjoy my talks with him, but as I said, I am a very busy man. I'm sure this world is everything he wanted and more. I'll keep my eyes on him and update as I see fit. I don't know why, I just feel like I should. I already have this machine, might as well keep notes on it._

 ** _Gaster 26, signing off._**

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** _And that is the ending to Undertale: The Machine. I hope you all enjoyed. On a good day, an update to the story would give as much as 150 or more views! Crazy, right? Anyway. The story is over now, but I may tack a few bonuses onto the end. Some **Post-Story** content if you will, but no promises. Once again, thank you for reading._


End file.
